■; - :;V:.  •  . .  .  rr .  '  ^ 

ALICE  MORSE  EARLE 


ELDOR  COURT 


(jEDWfcH  ^DAQ^ETT 


C  •  AJ  C 

DC-  C7  r*tz,5- 


\ 


SUN-DIALS  AND  ROSES  OF  YESTERDAY 


Sun-dial  and  Roses. 


Copyright,  1902, 

BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  November,  1902. 


Nortooob  Press 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass  U.S.A. 


THE  GETTY  uh-im  I  cK 
LIBRARY 


TO  MTDJVCJITm 


JTO  COMMEMORATE 


HER  FIRST  SVNMER  WITH  HER 
OWN  GARDEN  AND  SVNDIAL 
MAY  THE  MOTTO 
OF  HER  DIAL 
BE  THAT  OF 
HER  LIfE 

OJVIfJVMJJIOVfiS 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun¬ 
dials  ......  i 

II.  Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  32 

III.  Classification  of  Sun-dials  .  .  61 

IV.  The  Construction  of  Sun-dials  .  87 

V.  Ingeniose  Diallers  ....  103 

VI.  Portable  Dials  .  .  .  .  .120 

VII.  The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  .  .  163 

VIII.  Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  .  .185 

IX.  Pedestals  and  Gnomons  .  .  .  206 

X.  The  Setting  of  Sun-dials  .  .  .  233 

XI.  Sun-dial  Mottoes  .  .  .252 

XII.  The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial  .  .  279 

XIII.  Pliny  saieth  :  Concerning  Roses  and 

Garlands  .....  296 

XIV.  Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  .  305 

XV.  The  Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English 

History  .  .  .  .  .  .  318 


VI 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

XVI. 

Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 

PAGE 

‘  333 

XVII. 

The  Rosicrucians 

•  366 

XVIII. 

The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz, 

•  390 

XIX. 

Rural  Saints  and  Prophets 

.  41 1 

XX. 

A  Story  of  Four  Dials 

.  426 

List  o  f  Illu  strations 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  ......  Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Sun-dial  at  Claim's  Castle ,  Scotland.  Seat  of  the  Earl  of 

Strathmore  ........  facing  2 

Sun-dial  at  Balcarres  Castle ,  Fifeshire ,  Scotland.  Seat  of  the 

Earl  of  Crawford  ........  4 

Sun-dial  at  Kelburne  House ,  Ayrshire ,  Scotland.  Seat  of  the 

Earl  of  Glasgcnv.  1707  .......  6 

Sun-dial  in  Walled  Garden ,  Wratisbury,  England  .  facing  8 
Moot  Hall  with  Sun-dial,  Aldeburgh,  England  .  .  .10 

Sun-dial  at  Hillside ,  Menand's,  near  Albany ,  New  York. 

Reproduction  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Dial  at  Abbotsford  .  13 

Angel  with  Sun-dial  on  Cathedral ,  Genoa ,  Italy  .  .  facing  14 

Dante's  Amor.  From  drawing  by  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  .  16 

Byzantine  Carving  of  Angel  with  Sun-dial.  Cathedral , 

Chartres,  France.  1582  .  .  .  .  .  .  .18 

George  F.  Watts,  R.A.,  seated  in  his  Garden  by  his  Sun-dial, 

Limnerslease ,  Compton,  Guildford,  England  .  .  facing  20 

Eugio  Note  with  Sun-dial  Design.  First  Currency  of  the 

United  States.  1776  .......  22 

Six  Cent  Note  of  City  of  New  York.  With  Sun-dial  Design. 

1814 . 23 

Pewter  Sun-dial  cast  in  Mould  of  George  Ellicott,  Dial-maker. 

1779.  In  United  States  National  Museum,  Washing¬ 
ton,  D.C.  .........  24 

Sun-dial  of  Harriet  Martineau,  The  Knoll,  Ambleside,  Eng¬ 
land.  1846  ........  facing  26 

Sun-dial  of  Sir  William  Humphrey,  Bart.,  Great  Brington, 

Northants  England  .......  29 

The  Oldest  English  Sun-dial,  at  Bewcas/le,  England  .  facing  32 
Natural  Sun-dial,  Castleberg,  Settle,  Yorkshire,  England. 

From  a  print  in  “  Old  Yorkshire  ’ . 38 

vii 


List  of  Illustrations 


vm 


PAGE 

Drawing  of  the  Meridian  Stone  of  the  United  States  of  Amer¬ 
ica.  Erected  at  Washington ,  D.C.  1804  ...  42 

Lens-dial  at  Elm  Hirst ,  Wilmslow,  Cheshire ,  England  .  .  45 

Window-dial  from  Ley  be  time's  “  Dialling.’''1  1700  .  facing  46 

Cannon-dial  of  Sultan  of  Morocco.  Made  by  F.  Barker  P 

Son ,  London  .........  49 

Cannon-dial  at  Arsenal ',  Frank  ford,  near  Philadelphia ,  Pa. 

1874.  With  lens  contrivance  for  making  accurate  time  .  50 

Window-dial  at  Kersal  Cell ,  Broughton ,  near  Manchester , 

England.  Home  of  John  Byrom.  Circa  1700  .  .  53 

Tower  of  the  Winds,  Athens,  Greece  ....  facing  58 

Vertical  Dial  on  Grace  Church,  Merchantsville ,  New  Jersey  .  63 

Sun-dial  on  Church  at  Eyam ,  Derbyshire,  England  .  facing  64 
Sun-dial  on  Chimney ,  The  Colliers,  Petersfield,  England  .  66 

Sun-dial  and  Cresset  Stone,  Lewannick  Church,  near  Lances- 

ton,  England  ........  facing  66 

Vertical  Dial  at  Oak  Woods,  Peace  Dale,  Rhode  Island.  Seat 

of  Rowland  G.  Hazard,  Esq.  ......  67 

Sun-dial  on  Old  Wall  of  Santa  Barbara  Mission,  California. 

Made,  inscribed,  and  set  by  Rowland  Hazard,  Esq.  .  68 

Corner-dials  on  John  Knox's  House ,  Edinburgh,  Scotland  .  70 

Corner-dials  at  Lower  Harleston,  Northants,  England.  Resi¬ 
dence  of  Mr.  Thursby.  Circa  1800  .  .  .  facing  72 

Ancient  Cross  with  Dials.  Churchyard  at  Elmley  Castle, 

England  ........  facing  74 

Lectern-headed  Dial.  Gray  House,  near  Dundee,  Scotland  .  77 

Holbein's  Ambassadors  .......  facing  78 

Queen  Mary's  Dial,  Holyrood  Castle,  Scotland  ...  79 

Sun-dial  at  Mount  Melville,  near  St.  Andrews,  Scotland. 

1778  . . facing  80 

Saxon  Dial  on  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  Northampton  .  82 

Proclining-dial  at  Jeypore.  Model  in  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum,  South  Kensington.  Photographed  by  William 
A.  Mansell  P  Co.,  London  ......  83 

Quiver-dial  of  Phaidros,  from  Athens.  In  British  Museum. 

Photographed  by  William  A.  Mansell  P  Co.,  London  .  85 

Reclining-dial  at  Jeypore ,  from  model.  Photographed  by 

William  A.  Mansell  P  Co.,  London  ....  86 

Sun-dial  at  Jeypore,  India.  From  model  in  Victoria  and 


List  of  Ill  ustrations 


IX 


PAGE 

Albert  Museum.  Photographed  by  William  A.  Mansell 
(Sr5  Co.,  London  .......  facing  86 

Nocturnal  Dial,  from  Ley  bourne's  “  Dialling."  .  .  facing  88 

Head  of  Sun-dial  made  for  Centennial  Exposition,  Philadelphia. 

1876.  Now  at  Residence  of  Mrs.  Joseph  Philip  Mickley , 
near  Allentown,  Pa.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .90 

Centennial  Sun-dial.  1876  .......  92 

Nicholas  Kratzer ,  deviser  of  horologies  for  King  Henry  VIII. 

By  Holbein  .......  facing  104 

Side  View  of  Brass  Portable  Dial,  once  owned  by  Cardinal 
IVolsey.  Made  by  Nicholas  Kratzer.  Now  owned  by 
Le'iuis  Evans,  Esq.,  Russell  Farm ,  Watford,  England  .  105 

Lull  View  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  Dial  .  .  .  .  .106 

Drawing  of  Dial  made  by  Nicholas  Kratzer  for  Corpus  Christ  i 

College,  Oxford.  From  Mss.  of  Robert  Hegge  .  .107 

Pillar-dial  in  Quadrangle  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford, 

England  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .110 

Triangular  Lodge,  with  Dials,  Rushton,  Northants ,  Eng¬ 
land  ........  facing  1 12 

Elevation  of  Sun-dial  of  King  Charles  II  in  Garden  at  White¬ 
hall,  London  .......  facing  1 16 

Hexagonal  Dials  on  King's  Dial,  with  Portraits  of  Charles  II 

and  his  Queen  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .118 

Drawing  in  Fourteenth  Century  Mss.  of  Chilindre  .  .122 

Two  Boxwood  and  One  Ivory  Shepherd's  Dials.  Chimed  by 

Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .123 

Two  Boxwood  Pillar-dials.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  125 

Plate  for  Cylinder-dial.  From  Ferguson's  “  Mechanical  Lec¬ 
tures  on  Dialling"  . .  .126 

Diagram  of  Construction  of  Cylinder-dial .  From  Ferguson's 

“  Mechanical  Lectures  on  Dialling"  .  .  .  .127 

Standard  oj'  Dials,  with  Compass.  Invented  by  James  Fer¬ 
guson  ........  facing  128 

Brass  Octahedral  Block  of  Dials.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  1 29 
Wooden  Block  Dial  with  Paper  Figures.  1780.  Owned  by 

Lewis  Evans,  Esq . .  .130 

Brass  Equinoctial  Dial.  In  United  States  National  Museum  131 
Armillary  Sphere-dial  in  Garden  at  Brockenhurst,  New 

Forest,  England . facing  132 


X 


List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 

Brass  Block  Dial.  Made  in  Styria,  Austria .  Owned  by 

Lewis  Evans ,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  133 

Thevenot  Sun-dial  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -135 

Brass  Universal  Ring-dial,  set  for  use.  Owned  by  author  .  136 

Brass  Universal  Ring-dial ,  flat  for  carrying.  Owned  by 

author  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  137 

Universal  Ring-dial  with  Disc  Axis.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans ,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .138 

Three  Ring- dials ;  full  size  of  originals.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans ,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  139 

Brass  Ring-dial  and  Silver  Dial-ring.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans ,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .140 

Universal  Ring-dial  with  Base  and  Feet  with  Screws.  Owned 

by  Lewis  Evans ,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  141 

Globe  Window-dial.  Made  by  F  Barker  &r=  Son,  London, 

England  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .142 

French  Pocket-dial,  with  Compass.  Le  Maire,  maker  .  .  143 

Silver  Portable  Dial ,  French.  In  United  States  National 

Museum,  Washington,  D.C.  .  .  .  .  144 

Brass  Portable  Dial,  German.  In  United  States  National 

Museum,  Washington,  D.C.  .  .  .  .  .  144 

Brass  Portable  Dial,  German.  V.S.  1572.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans,  Esq.  .........  145 

Two  Gill-brass  Portable  Dials,  German.  1578,1553.  Owned 

by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .146 

Ivory  Portable  Dial,  German.  In  United  States  National 

Museum,  Washington,  D.C.  .  .  .  .  147 

Ivory  Book-dial  and  Octagonal  Dial.  1630.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .148 

Ivory  Pocket  dials ,  German.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  149 

Ivory  Book-dials.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .150 

Lyre-shaped  Horizontal  and  Analemmatic  Dial.  1763.  Owned 

by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  -151 

Brass  Universal  Equinoctial  Dial.  Made  by  Thomas  Wright. 


Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .152 

French  Sun-dial  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  153 

Brass  Equinoctial  Dial.  Made  by  Augustin.  Owned  by  Lewis 

Evans,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  153 

Casket  Dial,  Italian.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.  .  -154 


List  of  Illustrations 


xi 


Brass  Portable  Dial.  Maker  G.  F.  Grander.  In  United 
States  National  Museum,  Washington,  D.C.  . 

Two  Chinese  Pocket-dials.  Owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq. 
Silver  Pocket-dial,  Japatiese 
Flee het's  Universal  Sun-dial  .... 

Bailey's  Card-dial  ...... 

John  S.  Bailey,  Dial-maker .  In  his  Workshop 
Page  from  Emblems  of  Geoffrey  Whitney.  1586 
Sun-dial  at  Prestbury,  England 
Sun-dial  at  Adlington  Hall,  Cheshire,  England 
Sun-dial  in  Inner  Temple  Garden,  London 
Obelisk-shaped  Dial  in  Garden  at  Linburn  House,  Midlothian, 
Scotland.  1892.  Residence  of  Mrs.  Scott  .  facing 
Sun-dial  in  Churchyard,  Rostherne ,  Cheshire.  England  . 
Emblem  of  Louise  de  Valdemont,  Queen  of  Henry  III  of 
France  .......... 

Washington  Sun-dial,  in  Washington  House,  Little  Brington, 
Northants,  England  ....... 

Ancient  Cross  at  Great  Brington,  Northants,  England  . 
Sun-dial  in  Rectory  Garden,  Great  Brington,  Northants,  Eng¬ 
land.  Home  of  A.  L.  Y.  M or  ley,  Esq.  .... 

Sun-dial  at  Ophir  Farm,  Purchase,  near  White  Plains,  New 
York.  Seat  of  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid.  Photographed  by 
Curtis  Bell,  Esq.,  New  York  ....  facing 

Brass  Dial-face,  engraved  with  Lines  of  the  Zodiac.  Owned 

by  author.  1812.  .  . . 

Seasons'  Dial.  Made  by  John  S.  Bailey  .... 

Aztec  Calendar  of  a  Cycle  ....... 

Aztec  Calendar-stone.  In  Museum  of  City  of  Mexico 
Seven  Ages  of  Man.  From  Block  Print  in  British  Museum. 
Fourteenth  Century  .....  facing 

Dial-face  of  Four  Seasons.  Made  by  F.  Barker  &  Son,  Lon¬ 
don,  England  . . 

Sun-dial,  Time  and  Cupid.  In  Garden  of  Belton  House, 
Lincolnshire.  Seat  of  Earl  Brown  low  .... 

Dial-face  with  Floral  Design.  Made  by  F.  Barker  Son, 

London,  England  ........ 

Sun-dial  at  Friends'  Meeting-house,  Germantown,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania  ........  facing 


facing 

facing 


PAGE 

156 

*57 

158 

*59 

1 61 

162 
164 
167 
169 

171 

172 

173 

175 

177 

178 

181 


186 

187 

188 
191 
*93 

194 

197 

198 
200 

202 


Xll 


List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Honestone  Dial-face  from  Saxony ,  with  Coats  of  Arms.  Date 

1760.  Owned  by  author  .  ......  204 

Simple  Dial  in  a  Worcester  Garden  .....  207 

Terra-cotta  Pillar  .........  208 

Sun-dial  at  Berwyn ,  Pennsylvania.  Seat  of  Henry  T.  Coates , 

Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .210 

Sun-dial  in  It  addon  fields  New  Jersey.  In  Garden  of  H.  R. 

Mitchell,  Esq.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .211 

Sun-dial  made  from  Old  Tomb.  Huntercombe  Manor,  Maiden¬ 
head,  England.  Residence  of  Hon.  Mrs.  E.  V.  Boyle  .  213 

The  Moor.  Enfield  Old  Park,  Middlesex,  England  .  .215 

Sun-dial  at  Hampton  Court  .  .  .  .  .  .  .216 

Sun-dial  at  Whatton  House,  near  Loughborough,  England  .  217 

Sun-dial  at  Harlestone  House,  Northants.  Residence  of  the 

Duchess  of  Grafton  .....  facing  218 

Sun-dial  at  Althorp  House,  Northants,  England.  Seat  of 

Earl  Spencer  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .219 

Sun-dial  removed  from  Admiralty  Garden,  Whitehall,  Lon¬ 
don.  Now  on  Grounds  of  Althorp  House,  Northants. 

Seat  of  Earl  Spencer  .  .  .  .  .  .  .220 

Sun-dial  in  Rose  Garden  at  Yaddo,  Saratoga,  New  York. 

Seat  of  Spencer  Trask,  Esq .  .  .  .  .  .  .221 


Bronze  Dial-face.  Made  by  E.  Barker  Cx  Son,  Loti  don.  In 
Rose  Garden  at  Yaddo,  Saratoga,  New  York.  Seat  of 
Spencer  Trask,  Esq.  .......  222 

Pillar-dial  at  Old  Place,  Lindfield,  Sussex,  England.  Seat  of 

Charles  E.  Kemp.  Esq.  .....  facing  222 

Sun-dial  of  Gilbert  White,  Selborne ,  England  .  .  .  224 

Sun-dial  at  Cranford,  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  Seal  of 

Charles  E.  Jenkins,  Esq .  ....  facing  226 

Gnomon  of  Dial,  in  Shape  of  Skeleton.  Lelant  Church ,  Corn¬ 
wall,  England  ........  227 

Dial-face.  Death's  Head.  Sheepstor  Church,  Dartmoor, 

England  ..........  228 

Sun-dial.  Death's  Head.  In  Wall  of  Black  Friars'  Burial- 

ground,  Perth,  Scotland  ......  230 

Pedestals  of  Dials  at  Enfield  Old  House  and  Chiswick  .  .231 

Sun-dial  with  Crimson  Rambler  Rose.  In  Garden  of  Mrs. 
Mabel  Osgood  Wright,  Waldstein,  Fairfield,  Connecticut. 
Photographed  by  Mrs.  Wright . 236 


List  of  Illustrations 


xm 


PAGE 

Sun-dial  at  Avonwood  Court ,  Haver  ford,  Pennsylvania. 

Country  Seat  of  Charles  E.  Mather ,  Esq.  .  facing  238 
Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  Henry  Souther ,  Esq.,  Hartford,  Con¬ 
necticut  ..........  239 

Sun-dial  with  Poppies  in  Garden  of  Horace  Howard  Furness, 

Esq.,  Wallingford,  Pennsylvania.  Photographed  by  Henry 
Troth  .....  ....  242 

Sun-dial  in  Garden  at  Drumthwacket,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

Seat  of  M.  Taylor  Pyne,  Esq.  ......  245 

Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  the  Late  Hon.  William  H.  Seward, 

Auburn,  New  York  ........  247 

Sun-dial  with  Iris  and  Ferns  at  Huntercombe  Manor,  Maiden¬ 
head,  England.  Residence  of  Hon.  Mrs.  E.  V.  Boyle 

facing  248 

Sun-dial  with  Peonies  at  Kenmore,  Fredericksburg,  Virginia. 

Home  of  Betty  Washington  Lewis  .....  249 

Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  Stenton,  the  Logan  Mansion,  German- 
town,  Pennsylvania.  The  Gift  of  Horace  Jay  Smith  of 


Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  to  the  Society  of  Colonial 

Dames . 250 

Sun-dial  on  Bridge,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  .  .  .  253 

Cross  at  Northampton ,  England.  Erected  by  King  Edward  I 
of  England  in  Memory  of  his  Wife,  Queen  Eleanor  of 
Castile  ..........  255 


Pillar-dial  in  Graveyard  at  Dean  Po7c>,  Cheshire ,  England  .  256 

Sun-dial  at  Barncluith,  Cadzow  Forest,  Scotland.  From 

drawing  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Robertson  of  Dundee,  Scotland  .  258 

Vertical  Dial  at  Sandringham,  England.  Residence  of  King 
Edward  VII  of  England.  Dial  made  by  F.  Barker  &r= 

Son,  London  .........  259 

Sun-dial  at  Comment  of  Mount  Saint  Vincent.  Formerly  the 

Edwin  Forrest  Home  .  .  .  .  .  .  .261 

The  Lodge  with  Suti-dial  at  Charlecote  House,  Stratford-on- 

Avon,  England  ........  262 

Sun-dial  and  Garden-house  at  Brockenhurst  Park,  Hamp¬ 
shire,  England  ........  264 

Sun-dial  at  Moccas  Court,  Herefordshire.  Seat  of  Rev.  Sir 

George  Cornewall,  Bart.  ....  facing  264 

Vertical  Sun-dial  at  Germantown,  Pennsylvania  .  .  .  267 


XIV 


List  of  Illustrations 


Sun-dial  at  Canon's  Ashby ,  Northamptonshire.  Seat  of  Sir 
Henry  Drydeti,  Bart.  ....... 

Sun-dial  at  Ivy  Lodge.  Residence  of  Horace  Jay  Smith ,  Esq., 
Germantown ,  Pennsylvania  ....  facing 

Sun-dial  in  Cheshire ,  England ,  in  Garden  of  Mrs.  Bell . 
Facet-headed  Dial  at  Linburn  House ,  Midlothian ,  Scotland. 
Residence  of  Mrs.  Scott  .....  facing 

Sun-dial  at  Bramhall,  Cheshire ,  England  .... 

Sun-dial  in  Rose  Garden  at  Broughton  Castle ,  near  Banbury- 
mylanth.  Seat  of  Lord  Algernon  Gordon- Lennox  . 
Cross-dial ,  West  Laurel  Cemetery ,  Philadelphia ,  Pennsylvania 
Cross-dial  at  Scotscraig,  Scotland  ...... 

West  Side  of  Scotscraig  Cross-dial,  and  Suggested  Pedestal  for 
Scotscraig  Cross-dial.  From  drawings  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Rob¬ 
ertson,  Dundee,  Scotland  ....... 

West,  South,  and  East  Faces  of  Scotscraig  Cross-dial.  From 
drawings  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Robertson,  Dundee,  Scotland 
Brass  Universal  Portable  Cross-dial.  Made  by  F.  Barker  IP 
Sou,  London ,  England  ....... 

Pillar-dial,  Appleby,  England.  Erected  by  Anne  Clifford, 
Countess  of  Pembroke,  Dorset,  and  Montgomery 
The  Countess's  Pillar.  On  Wayside  between  Brougham  a>id 
Appleby.  Erected  by  Anne  Clifford,  Countess  of  Pem¬ 
broke,  Dorset,  and  Montgomery.  1656  .... 

Dial-block  of  the  Countess's  Pillar  ...... 

Sun-dial  on  Library  Tower,  Princeton  University,  Princeton, 
New  Jersey  ......  facing 

Dial  with  Dipleidoscope,  Neaum  Crag,  Ambles ide,  Westmore¬ 
land,  England.  Erected  by  Albert  Fleming,  Esq.,  iti 
Memory  of  his  Mother  ....... 

Sun-dial  at  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Connecticut  . 
Sun-dial  in  Grounds  of  Packer  Collegiate  Institute,  Brooklyn, 

New  York  .  . . 

Sun-dial  in  Grove  Street  Burying-ground,  New  Haven, 

’  Connecticut  ......... 

Roses  at  Mount  Vernon-on-the-Potomac.  The  Home  of  George 
Washington  ......... 

Arch  with  the  Memorial  Rose,  Twin  Oaks,  near  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia . 


PAGE 

268 

270 

272 

274 

275 

276 

280 

281 

282 

283 

284 

286 

287 

289 

290 

291 

292 

293 

294 
297 
299 


List  of  Illustrations 


xv 


The  Rose  Walk ,  Van  Cortlandt  Manor ,  Croton-on-H udson, 
New  York  .......  facin'" 

Hybrid  Sweet  Brier  Rose  .....  facing 

Roses  in  California  ........ 

Rose  Arches,  Twin  Oaks,  near  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia  ......... 

Gold  of  Ophir  Roses  ........ 

Roses  at  Grave/ye  Manor ,  East  Grinstead,  Sussex,  England. 
Home  of  William  Robinson,  author  of  the  “  English 
Flower  Garden  ”  ....... 

Rose  en  Soleil.  Emblem  of  Edward  IV  of  England 
Sun-dial  formerly  at  The  Mount,  Astoria.  Now  at  Bolton 
Priory,  Pelham  Manor,  New  York  .  .  .  facing 

Emblem  of  Richard  III  of  England  ..... 

Emblem  of  Henry  VII  of  England  ...... 

Emblem  of  Katherine  of  Aragon,  first  Queen  of  Henry  VIII 
of  England  ......... 

Emblem  of  A  tine  Boleyn,  second  Queen  of  Henry  VIII  of 
Englatui  .......... 

Emblem  of  Jane  Seymour,  third  Queen  of  Henry  VIII  of 
England  .......... 

Emblem  of  Katherine  Parr,  sixth  Queen  of  Henry  VIII  of 
England  .  .  .  .  .  .  ... 

Emblem  of  Queen  Mary  of  England 
Emblem  of  James  I  of  England  .... 

June  Rose  ........ 

Scotch  Roses  ........ 

Harrison  Yellow  Rose,  in  Garden  of  Mrs.  Mabel 
Wright.  Photographed  by  Mrs.  Wright 
Yellow  Wreath  Rose  ...... 

Baltimore  Belle  ....... 

Anne  de  Dies  bach  Rose  ...... 

The  White  Rose  ....... 

Patience,  the  Damask  Rose  ..... 

Bourbon  Rose.  From  Redout  Us  “  Les  Roses  P  1824 
Little  Burgundy  Rose.  From  Redout!' s  “  Les  Roses." 

Fairy  Rose  ...  .... 

Seven  Sisters  Rose.  Photographed  by  Mary  M.  F.  Pa  sc  hall  . 
Hundred  Leaved  Rose.  In  Garden  of  Van  Cortlandt  Manor, 
Croton-on-H udson,  New  York . 


Osgood 


facing 


1824  . 


PAGE 

302 

306 

3°9 

3H 

319 


321 

323 

324 

326 

327 

328 

328 

329 

33° 

331 

332 
335 
337 

339 

340 
343 

345 

346 
349 

353 

354 

355 
357 

360 


XVI 


List  of  Illustrations 


Rose  Garden  at  Mount  Vernon-on-t/ie-Potomac.  The  Home 
of  George  Washington  .....  facing 

Dial-pillar  at  Wimborne  Minster ,  Dorsetshire ,  England. 

Formerly  on  Gable  of  Transept .  Date  1732 
South  Dial  of  Pillar  at  Wimborne  Minster ,  Dorsetshire  . 
Sun-dial  at  Talbot ,  near  Bournemouth ,  England 
Market  Cross  with  Dials ,  Woodstock,  England.  From  a?i  old 
print  .......... 

Queen  Eleanor's  Cross,  Northants.  Erom  an  old  print. 

1760 . 

Pillar-dial  at  Martock ,  Somersetshire,  England 
Sun-dial  at  Branksea  Castle,  Poole  Harbour,  England  . 

Lynn  Market  Cross,  Cheshire,  England  ..... 

Market  Cross  at  Carlisle,  England.  1682  .  .  facing 

Sun-dial  on  Eastern  Gable  of  Sherborne  Abbey 
Horologium  Achaz.  1578.  Photographed  by  Mary  M.  F. 
Paschall  ........  facing 

Base  of  Horologium  Achaz.  Photographed  by  Mary  M.  F. 
Paschall  .......... 

Basin  of  Horologium  Achaz.  Photographed  by  Mary  M.  F. 
Paschall  .......... 

Quadrant  of  Christopher  Schissler.  1578.  In  Bodleian  Li¬ 
brary.  Photographed  by  William  A.  Mansell  Or3  Co., 
London  .......... 

Engraved  Band  on  Quadrant  of  Christopher  Schissler  . 
Inscription  on  Quadrant  of  Christopher  Schissler  . 
Perlachthurm ,  Augsburg.  Dial  of  Christopher  Schissler 
Sun-dial  Church  of  Our  Lady,  Munich  ..... 

Sun-dial  at  Wroxton  Abbey,  Oxfordshire ,  England.  With 
Four  Seasons  .  .  ..  ..... 

Dragon  Gnomon  ......... 

Hedge  of  Empress  of  China  Rose  ....  facing 

Chinese  Pedestal  for  Dial  ....... 

Sun-dial  at  Saffron  Walden ,  Essex  ..... 

Sun-dial  at  Princeton,  New  fersey  ...... 

My  Four  Dials  ......... 

Shield-shaped  Vertical  Dial.  Made  by  John  S.  Bailey  . 
Sun-dial  on  Ely  Cathedral:  The  Lanier 71  .... 

Aiicie/it  Sun-dial.  Owned  by  author  ..... 


PAGE 

362 

369 

370 

373 

374 

377 

381 

383 

386 

388 

388 

393 

395 

396 


399 

401 

403 

405 

408 

414 

416 

416 

418 

420 

421 

427 

428 
43° 
433 


List  of  Illustrations 


XVII 


Sun-dial  at  Didsbury ,  England  ...... 

Sun-dial ,  showing  Mean  Time.  Made  by  John  S.  Bailey 
Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  William  Robinson ,  author  of  the 
“  English  Flower  Garden Gravetye  Manor ,  Sussex, 
England  .......... 

Sun-dial  and  Porch  of  Church,  Grateley,  Hampshire,  England 
Sun-dial  at  Chastleton  Manor ,  Oxfordshire ,  England 


TAGE 

436 

43/ 


440 

443 

445 


Foreword 


After  the  publication  in  igoi  of  my  book  entitled  Old  Time 
Gardens,  which  contained  a  chapter  upon  Sun-dials,  I  received 
frequent  letters  ( many  of  them  from  strangers) ,  asking  about 
sun-dials,  their  history,  construction,  manufacture,  and  cost ; 
about  sun-dials  in  the  past,  about  sun-dials  as  existing  at 
present,  and  above  all  expressing  a  hope  both  for  sun-dials 
and  a  sun-dial  book  in  the  future.  I  found  that  many  of  my 
friends  were  placing  sun-dials  upon  pedestals  in  their  gardens, 
or  upon  the  walls  of  their  houses,  or  wished  to  erect  them  as 
memorials,  and  were  eager  to  learn  of  all  dials.  A  general 
interest  in  them  seemed  to  have  risen  in  America,  as  it  has 
ever  existed  in  Scotland  and  England.  As  I  had  for  many 
years  collected  sun-dials  in  a  desultory  manner  and  informa¬ 
tion  and  material  in  a  most  assiduous  manner,  I  decided  to 
write  this  book.  Among  the  sun-dial  material  lucre  books  on 
dialling,  old  and  new ;  drawings  and  photographs  of  dials ; 
and,  not  less  important,  a  large  correspondence  with  dial  owners, 
those  who  possessed  single  sun-dials  and  those  who  owned  collec¬ 
tions  of  dials.  The  union  of  the  subject  of  Roses  with  that  of 
sun-dials  has  not  been  through  any  relation  of  one  to  the  other, 
but  simply  a  placing  together  of  two  11  garden  delights,"  —  to  use 
Bacon's  term,  —  and  with  somewhat  of  the  thought  that  as  a 
dial  standing  alone  in  a  garden  was  a  bit  bare  without  flowers, 
so  it  was  likewise  in  a  book.  That  both  are  things  of  senti- 


MX 


XX 


Foreword 


merit  and  charm,  with  something  of  that  magic  which  in  hitman 
beings  we  term  fascination,  has  helped  to  make  their  association 
and  companionship  in  this  book  a  fitting  and  happy  one.  I  have 
been  aided  in  the  illustration  of  this  book  by  the  thoughtfulness 
of  friends  and  the  generosity  of  strangers,  who  have  gathered 
promptly  and  faithfully  photographs  of  the  substantial  and  per¬ 
manent  beauty  of  sun-dials  as  they  have  the  more  transient 
charm  of  the  Rose.  To  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.,  of  Russell  Farm, 
Watford,  England,  I  am  indebted  for  lavish  illustration  and 
exact  information  to  make  my  chapter  on  Portable  Dials  a  most 
important  record.  A.  L.  Y.  Morley,  Esq.,  of  Great  Brington, 
England,  has  brought  the  historical  and  beautiful  sun-dials 
of  Northamptonshire  to  me  in  great  variety  and  number.  To 
Messrs.  F.  Barker  6°  Son,  London,  makers  of  mathematical 
instruments,  and  Messrs.  William  A.  Mansell  &  Co.,  Lon¬ 
don,  photographers,  L  am  indebted  for  prompt,  intelligent,  and 
faithful  assistance,  which  no  business  arrangements  are  ample 
to  reward.  To  Horace  f.  Smith,  Esq.,  and  Thomson  Willing, 
Esq.,  both  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  L  owe  the  full  list  of 
illustrations  of  sun-dials  from  Philadelphia  and  Germantown 
and  vicinity.  H.  R.  Mitchell,  Esq.,  of  Haddonfield,  New  Jer¬ 
sey,  and  T.  S.  Robertson,  Esq.,  of  Dundee,  Scotland,  kindly 
furnished  to  me  many  of  the  drawings  and  diagrams  in  these 
pages.  Many  have  given  me  single  photographs  of  their  sun¬ 
dials,  or  glimpses  of  their  Rose  gardens,  too  many  even  to  name, 
though  L  am  deeply  grateful  to  each  and  all.  For  the  chapters 
upon  both  the  Sun-dial  and  the  Rose  as  an  Emblem,  for  those 
upon  the  Rosicrucians  and  the  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz,  L  read  and 
studied  books,  pamphlets,  and  manuscripts  by  scores ;  and,  as 
ever,  the  treasures  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  were 
of  greatest  value.  Ln  the  year  1492 — -date  memorable  to 


Foreword 


xxi 


Americans  —  there  was  printed  at  the  monastery  at  Zzenna 
a  noble  volume ,  The  New  Psalter  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The 
border  of  the  first  page  of  the  second  part  of  this  Psalter  is 
a  wood  engraving  of  a  splendid  scrollwork  of  Rose  branches, 
buds,  and  blossoms,  of  bold  and  almost  architectural  device.  It 
was  cut  on  oblong  blocks,  so  it  could  be  used  in  various  shaped 
places.  This  fine  Rose  scroll  has  been  adapted,  with  but  slight 
alteration,  as  a  border  for  the  title-page  and  dedication-page  of 
this  book.  The  design  suggests  to  our  thought  the  wonderful 
Rose  border  of  the  Kclmscott  Chaucer  ;  but  the  Rose  sculpture, 
as  it  was  termed,  of  the  old  monkish  wood-cutter  has  more  free¬ 
dom,  and  in  some  indefinable  way  mot'e  character  than  the  much 
bedoubled  Roses  of  William  Morris's  design.  All  the  fine 
decorative  capital  initials  which  begin  the  chapters  of  this  book 
of  Sun-dials  and  Roses  have  been  taken  from  ancient  volumes, 
many  of  them  being  appropriately  old  herbals  and  books 
on  husbandry.  In  the  early  printed  books  the  capitals  were 
designed  by  artists,  but  unfortunately  their  names  were  seldom 
preserved.  Their  work  was  often  grotesque,  and  even  prepos¬ 
terous,  but  nevertheless  ( or  perhaps  therefore )  interesting,  and 
a^ove  all  the  initials  ivere  always  decorative.  The  works  of 
Erasmus  appeared  in  special  luxury  of  typography,  for  Eras¬ 
mus  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Frobenius,  the  celebrated  Basle 
printer.  In  a  splendid  book  published  in  Florence  in  recogni¬ 
tion  of  Erasmus  ( dated  152J)  is  the  superb  series  of  initial 
letters  commonly  known  as  The  Playing  Boys.  The  A  of  the 
series  is  shown  on  page  426,  and  is  said  to  be  the  work  of  Albert 
Diirer.  A  fine  example  of  an  heraldic  capital  is  the  old  black- 
letter  H  shown  on  page  233,  from  a  book  printed  in  Paris  in 
1514,  at  the  printing-office  of  one  Ascensius.  Letters  in  white 
upon  a  darker  dotted  ground  lyerc  much  used  in  France,  and 


XXII 


Foreword 


I  think  the  gracefully  drawn  initial  Q  in  this  style  of  decora¬ 
tion  shown  on  page  8y  has  a  distinctly  Gallic  touch.  For  a 
time  the  pigment-box  of  the  monk  or  other  limner ,  painter , 
stainer ,  or  trickster ,  often  added  color  or  gold  to  the  outlines 
of  the  wood-cutter,  with  glowing  results.  Tozvard  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century  the  fashion  of  ornamented  capital 
initials  abated.  In  the  following  century  another  taste  in  capi¬ 
talization  came  in;  one  is  shown  in  the  letter  on  page  318.  The 
chapter  on  the  Rosicrucians  has  an  initial  bearing  the  mystic 
symbol  of  the  society.  I  have  taken  from  these  antique  books 
this  lovely  Rose  border  and  fine  capitals  to  deck  this  book  of 
Sun-dials  and  Roses,  but  I  cannot  see  my  pages  rejoice  in  the 
beautiful  line  edgings,  the  pow  derings  of  gold,  the  margin-minia¬ 
tures  with  which  Persian  poets  adorned  their  books  of  Roses, 
nor  can  I  have  the  silken  paper  of  flower  and  fruit  tints  that 
they  use — pale  lemon-yellow,  light  orange,  fine  nut-brown,  clear 
iris-blue,  and  violet,  orchid,  heliotrope,  and  lilac,  and  every  tint 
of  Rose,  slice  the  glare  of  zuhite  paper  offends  their  eye ;  nor 
can  I  send  out  my  volumes  scented  with  Attar  of  Roses  and 
Sandal-wood,  as  were  many  Persian  poems.  The  copies  of  the 
poems  of f ami  in  the  Oxford  Library,  even  after  four  centuries, 
are  fragrant  with  the  original  Rose  perfumes.  Both  Sandal- 
zvood  and  Attar  of  Roses  are  far  too  costly  to  be  used  by  modern 
publishers.  Once  Sandal-wood  was  free  in  some  amount  in 
Persia  to  all  save  beggars  ;  even  an  historical  author  could  have 
Sandal-wood  gates  to  his  waiting-room.  But  he  found  that  the 
perfume  so  filled  his  brain  that  it  diverted  him  from  serious 
thoughts  and  composition,  and  made  him  liable  to  “  drop  into 
poetry" ;  and  he  sternly  had  the  fragrant  portals  removed  to 
his  harem,  zvhere  bemused  brains  did  not  matter.  In  our  ozvn 
day  zve  find  a  case  grotesquely  analogous.  Walter  Savage  Lan- 


Foreword 


XXlll 


dor,  when  seated  at  his  desk,  fully  prepared  and  eager  to  write, 
would  be  so  diverted  from  his  intent  by  the  scent  of  the  wood 
of  his  freshly  cut  lead-pencil  that  he  would  sit  for  hours, 
motionless,  sniffing  the  Piny  odor,  writing  nothing.  But  Pine 
or  Sandal-wood,  or  any  other  fragrance,  is  little  heeded  or 
valued  to-day  ;  and  Attar  of  Roses  is  so  blended  and  degraded 
that  we  scarcely  know  the  pure  Rose  perfume. 


October ,  iqo2, 
Brooklyn ,  New  York. 


ALICE  MORSE  EARLE. 


4 


/ 


o  *v 


Sun-dials  and  Roses 
Yesterday 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CHARM  AND  SENTIMENT  OF  SUN-DIALS 


“  A  Dial  is  the  Visible  Map  of  Time,  till  Whose  Invention  ’ twas 
follie  in  the  Sun  to  play  with  a  Shadow.  It  is  the  Anatomie  of  the 
Day  and  a  Scale  of  Miles  for  the  Jornie  of  the  Sun.  It  is  the  silent 
Voice  of  Time  and  without  it  the  Day  were  dumbe.  ...  It  is 
ye  Book  of  ye  Sun  on  which  he  writes  the  Storie  of  the  Day. 
Lastly  Heaven  itself  is  but  a  generall  Dial,  and  a  Dial  it,  in  a 
lesser  volume.  — Heliotropum  Sciotbericum,  Robert  Hegge,  1630. 


HERE  are  in  nature  some 
simple  expressions  of  useful¬ 
ness  which  have  a  charm 
that  is  impossible  to  de¬ 
fine.  This  charm  seems  to 
consist  in  the  direct,  the 
unadorned,  and  unencum¬ 
bered  application  of  shape 
and  form  to  the  reason  of 
their  being.  They  are  often 
primitive  objects,  sometimes  those  of  ancient  races, 
where  each  line  has  been  shaped  out  unconsciously 
through  centuries  of  use,  not  with  any  thought  of 

B  I 


2  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

beauty,  but  to  serve  distinctly  and  simply  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  existence.  Such  objects  are  the  snow-shoe 
and  the  canoe  of  our  North  American  Indians; 
absolutely  perfect  in  outline,  devoid  of  all  super¬ 
fluities,  impossible  of  improvement,  they  possess 
in  full  not  only  beauty,  but  the  charm  to  which 
I  refer.  An  ancient  Greek  lamp  is  another  exam¬ 
ple  ;  this  classic  form  of  lamp  was  used  not  alone 
in  ancient  Greece,  but  in  scores  of  other  lands, 
by  mediaeval  races,  and  even  in  humble  homes  by 
our  own  contemporaries.  The  iron  “  betty-lamps  ” 
of  our  New  England  grandmothers,  found  still  in 
remote  New  England  homes,  —  lamps  with  hanging 
chain,  small  oval  body  and  protruding  lip  to  hold  a 
primitive  wick,  differ  not  in  single  detail  or  outline 
from  the  lamps  of  ancient  Rome  and  Egypt.  House¬ 
hold  lamps  retained  this  antique  useful  shape  as  long 
as  the  same  domestic  mediums  of  illumination  were 
used,  —  namely,  household  grease  and  oil.  With  the 
introduction  of  more  lavish  means  of  illumination 
came  varied  forms  of  presentation  of  artificial  light, 
and  the  old  simplicity  of  outline  of  the  hanging 
lamp  vanished. 

The  sun-dial  is  another  striking  example  of  the 
charm  of  simplicity  in  form  and  directness  in  utility; 
its  lines  and  markings  are  the  absolute  mathematical 
expression  of  the  information  it  gives  ;  it  is  set  on 
a  decorative  pedestal  or  fixed  with  ornamentation 
on  a  wall  simply  for  convenience  of  our  sight.  You 
may  elaborate  the  lines  of  the  dial-face,  and  decorate 
the  mounting  of  the  dial,  but  that  does  not  add  to 
its  subtility  of  charm.  You  feel  that  curious  inter- 


Sun-dial  at  Glamis  Castle,  Scotland ;  Seat  of  the  Earl  of  Strathmore. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  3 


est  and  “drawing  unto  ”  in  the  simplest  sun-dial  of 
dull  metal  fixed  on  the  kitchen  window-sill  of  the 
humble  farm-house,  just  as  you  feel  it  in  the  won¬ 
derful  dial  of  Glamis  in  old  Scotland. 

This  exquisite  monumental  dial,  deemed  by  many 
the  masterpiece  of  all  dials,  may  well  open  the  series 
of  illustrations  of  sun-dials  in  this  book.  It  stands 
on  the  grounds  of  Glamis  Castle,  home  of  tragedy, 
legend,  and  romance  ;  even  its  picture  speaks  to  us 
of  Macbeth,  the  shadowy  Thane  of  Glamis,  and  of 
the  charm  and  magic  of  Shakespeare’s  play. 

This  picture  of  the  dial  is  better  than  any  descrip¬ 
tion  ;  but  it  may  be  noted  that  the  twenty-four  facets 
of  the  head  have  each  three  and  some  four  dials, 
giving  over  eighty  dials  in  all.  The  rampant  lions 
each  hold  a  fine  vertical  dial,  one  of  which  is  elliptic 
in  shape,  nineteen  inches  long;  two  are  square,  thir¬ 
teen  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter  ;  and  the  fourth 
is  rectangular  and  is  fifteen  and  one-halt  inches  long. 
The  lions  are  separated  by  four  beautiful  twisted 
pillars  carved  in  the  spiral  hollows.  The  height  of 
the  dial  is  thus  divided  :  — 


Height  from  ground  to  place  on  which  the  lions  stand  3  ft.  7  in. 
Height  of  lions  .  .  .  .  .  .  5  ft.  2  in. 

Cornice  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1  ft. 

From  top  of  cornice  to  upper  part  of  faceted  head  .  3  ft.  3^  in. 

Facet  head  .  .  .  .  .  .  •  3  ft*  5^  *n- 

Scrolls  and  coronet  .  .  .  .  .  .  4  ft.  9  in. 


Total 


2  1  ft.  3  in. 


The  width  of  the  octagonal  lower  step  at  its  base 
is  ten  feet  and  ten  inches  ;  it  forms  thus,  as  may  be 


4 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


plainly  seen,  a  grand  monumental  dial,  fit  for  the 
majestic  castle  beside  which  it  is  reared. 

This  castle  is  the  residence  of  the  Earl  and 
Countess  of  Strathmore;  and  this  fine  photograph 
was  taken  by  Lady  Maude  Bowes-Lyon  for  this 

book.  The  dial 
is  certainly 
three  centuries 
old,  as  it  ap¬ 
pears  in  a  print 
of  the  castle 
previous  to  the 
year  1600,  and 
was  named  in 
Earl  Patrick’s 
Book  of  Record 
of  a  date  pre¬ 
vious  to  1695. 

The  sun-dial 
has  for  us  an¬ 
other  charm  — 
one  that  is 
common  to  all 
deeds  and  in¬ 
struments  that 
note  the  pass¬ 
ing  of  time.  In  the  days  of  childhood  we  gathered 
eagerly  the  downy  seed-balls  of  the  Dandelion,  and 
as  we  held  them  aloft  we  blew  upon  them  with 
strong  young  lungs,  and  called  out:  “What’s  the 
hour- o’ -the- day  ?  ”  Thus  do  all  children  of  all 
lands  wherever  the  Dandelion  blows  and  turns  “quite 


Sun-dial  at  Balcarres  Castle,  Fifeshire. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials 


5 


old  and  gray.”  Vague  was  the  answer  of  the  bared 
stem  of  the  Dandelion  to  us ;  and  I  doubt  if  we 
expected  to  learn  from  it  the  time.  It  might  have 
answered  in  nearly  the  words  of  the  old  sun-dial 
motto :  Hora  non  numero  nisi  juventas.  i  count 
only  youthful  hours.  We  ask  the  hour  with 
equal  intentness  of  the  long-legged  garden-spider 
and  of  the  grasshopper  :  — 

“  Grandfather,  grandfather  gray, 

Tell  us  the  time-o’-the-day.” 

We  had  thus  early  in  life  the  universal  instinct 
of  humanity,  a  longing  to  count  the  hours  and  min¬ 
utes  of  passing  time  ;  and  we  never  wearied  of  the 
trial.  How  full  of  significance  also  is  the  hour-glass, 
how  classic  its  shape  ;  what  a  charm  has  it  for  the 
child — just  as  it  had  in  the  childhood  of  life  for 
ancient  peoples. 

With  what  exquisite  perfection  of  simplicity  has 
Tennyson,  in  his  In  Memoriam ,  characterized  the 
succession  of  marking  the  passing  of  Time  by  hour¬ 
glass,  sun-dial,  and  clock  !  — 

“  For  every  grain  of  sand  that  runs 

And  every  space  of  shade  that  steals 
And  every  kiss  of  toothed  wheels 
And  all  the  courses  of  the  sun.” 

The  sun-dial  is  a  creature  of  equal  sentiment  and 
sense.  Its  good  sense  is  proven  by  its  being  so 
perfectly  satisfying,  so  absolute.  You  may  deem  its 
sphere  a  restricted  one,  its  message  a  short  one ;  but 
it  fulfils  its  duty,  and  tells  its  story  to  perfection  — 


6 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


it  is  satisfying.  And  this  is  no  small  thing  when  we 
recall  how  few  objects  there  are  in  this  world,  whether 
formed  by  nature  or  shaped  by  art,  that  are  satisfy¬ 
ing.  Try  to  name  them  !  the  perfect,  the  wholly 
satisfying  things  you  know  ;  there  a  few  books  —  and 

alas  !  how  few  they 
are ;  and  some  pic¬ 
tures  —  I  can  count 
them  fartooquickly. 
Roses  and  Fritil- 
laries  are  as  abso¬ 
lutely  satisfying  as 
the  sun-dial,  and 
happily  many  trees. 
A  Ural  Mountain 
amethyst,  yes,  and 
two  cocker-spaniels, 
friends  of  mine ; 
once  in  a  lifetime  a 
gown;  I  suppose  ar¬ 
chitects  could  name 
some  buildings  for 
this  list;  and  some 
folk  may  have  had 
Sun-dial  at  Kelburne  House,  Ayrshire  ;  a  perfect  horse  ;  and 

Seat  of  the  Earl  of  Glasgow.  j  know  a  few  per¬ 

fect  pieces  of  domestic  furniture,  of  silver,  of  china. 
But  nearly  all  sun-dials  please  us  absolutely  —  cer¬ 
tainly  all  simple  and  direct  ones,  and  I  think  it  well 
worth  while  to  exist  merely  to  be  satisfying  if  noth¬ 
ing  more. 

But  the  sun-dial  is  a  thing  of  deep  sentiment. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  7 

All  feel  the  beauty  and  wonder  of  the  thought  that 
Time,  that  most  intangible,  most  fleeting,  most  won¬ 
derful  of  conditions,  is  marked  so  fittingly  in  its 
passing  by  a  shadow  almost  equally  intangible;  and 
that  the  noblest  evidences  of  creation  —  the  stars  in 
the  heavens  —  would  be  to  us  invisible  and  unknown 
save  for  their  revelation  through  the  shadow  of  the 
earth.  Thus  are  great  truths  revealed  to  us,  not  by 
great  Light  but  by  Darkness  —  a  lesson  of  Life. 

The  Quaker  poet  Bernard  Barton  felt  the  senti¬ 
ment  of  the  sun-dial ;  it  accorded  well  with  his 
temperament  and  his  faith.  Here  are  his  noble 
verses  :  — 

“  With  still  more  joy  to  thee  I  turn. 

Meet  horologe  for  Bard  to  love  ; 

Time’s  sweetest  flight  from  thee  I  learn. 

Whose  lore  is  borrowed  from  above. 

“  I  love  in  some  sequestered  nook 
Of  antique  garden  to  behold 
The  page  of  thy  sun-lighted  book 
Its  touching  homily  unfold. 

“  On  some  old  terrace  wall  to  greet 

Thy  form  and  sight  which  never  cloys  ; 

’Tis  more  to  thought  than  drink  or  meat. 

To  feeling  than  Art’s  costliest  toys. 

“  These  seem  to  track  the  path  of  time 

Bv  vulgar  means  which  man  has  given. 

Thou  —  simple,  silent,  and  sublime  — 

But  shows  thy  shadowy  sign  from  Heaven.” 

“  Simple,  silent,  and  sublime  ”  —  in  its  silence  the 
sun-dial  is  strong. 

There  is  such  severity,  such  dignity  in  the  noise- 


8 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


less  marking  of  the  flight  of  Time  ;  no  irritating  tick¬ 
ing,  no  striking  of  the  hours,  no  sounding  of  bells. 
Silently  as  surely,  the  hours  pass  away,  and  the  day 
with  even  measure  balances  its  periods  till  the  setting 
sun  leaves  a  darkness  equal  to  the  silence. 

“The  sly  shadow  steals  away  upon  the  dial  and 
the  quickest  eye  can  discover  no  more,  but  that  it 
is  gone,”  wrote  Glanville.  There  is  an  element  of 
mystery  in  this  imperceptible  flight,  and  all  mystery 
is  alluring ;  you  may  note  the  swaying  pendulum  of 
the  clock,  or  you  may  hear  the  ticking  of  the  watch, 
you  may  see  the  tiny  stream  of  sand  of  the  hour¬ 
glass,  but  you  can  see  no  movement  of  the  shadow ; 
“  nice,”  said  Lamb,  “  as  an  evanescent  cloud  or  the 
first  arrests  of  sleep.” 

How  vast,  how  wonderful  is  the  thought  of  Life, 
of  the  passing  of  Time  !  How  crude,  how  paltry 
our  definitions !  How  petty  our  explanations ! 
Only  by  symbolism  can  these  things  be  expressed  ! 

In  the  Talmud  are  these  fine  lines:  — 

“Life  is  a  passing  shadow,  says  the  Scripture.  Is  it  the 
shadow  of  a  tower?  of  a  tree  ?  a  shadow  that  prevails  for  a 
while  ?  No,  it  is  the  shadow  of  a  bird  in  his  flight  —  away 
flies  the  bird,  and  there  is  neither  bird  nor  shadow.”  . 

We  cannot  hold  this  shadow,  if  we  would,  but  its 
passing  is  shown  to  us  on  the  sun-dial.  And  on 
the  dial-face  alone  does  this  passing  seem  irrevocable 
—  unceasing.  You  may  refuse  to  turn  the  hour¬ 
glass  and  thus  deceive  yourself  that  Time  flies  not. 
You  can  cease  to  fill  the  water-clock  and  let  the 
weights  of  your  clock  run  down  until  its  hands  turn 


Walled  Garden  with  Sun-dial,  Wratisbury,  England. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials 


9 


not  —  but  you  cannot  check  the  course  of  the  sun’s 
shadow. 

Wonderful  as  is  this  thought  of  the  present  of  the 
dial,  its  past  is  more  profound. 

“The  shadow  on  the  dial’s  face 
That  steals  from  day  to  day 
With  slow  unseen,  unceasing  pace 

Moments  and  months  and  years  away, 

This  shadow  which  in  every  clime 
Since  light  and  motion  first  began 
Hath  held  its  course  sublime.” 

“Since  light  and  motion  first  began”:  when  on 
the  Fourth  Day  of  the  Creation,  God  said,  — 

“  Let  there  be  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven  to 
divide  the  day  from  the  night,  and  let  them  be  for  signs, 
and  for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and  for  years. 

“And  let  them  be  for  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the 
heaven,  to  give  light  upon  the  earth  ;  and  it  was  so.” 

And  the  dial  was  so  also  ;  the  trunks  of  the  trees 
were  gnomons,  there  was  light,  there  was  motion, 
there  were  shadows,  and  therefore  there  were  sun¬ 
dials.  As  Charles  Lamb  said  of  a  dial,  “  Adam 
could  scarce  have  missed  it  in  Paradise.” 

Certain  inanimate  objects  have  a  semi-human 
closeness  to  us.  I  do  not  by  this  refer  to  objects 
with  which  we  have  intimate  and  happy  associations, 
such  as  a  chair  in  which  loved  ones  have  sat,  a  desk 
at  which  we  ourselves  have  long  written ;  but  1 
mean  that  an  inherent  quality  is  possessed  by  some 
objects  which  even  at  first  sight  makes  them  seem 
almost  human.  I  always  feel  this  quality  in  mile- 


io  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

stones  and  in  old  windmills;  of  course  we  all  have 
known  deep  attachment  for  certain  books,  which  is 
natural  enough,  since  they  have  spoken  so  plainly 
to  us.  Many  musicians  know  this  feeling  for  and 


Moot  Hall,  with  Sun-dial,  Aldeburgh,  England. 

about  their  musical  instruments,  and  workmen  often 
have  it  and  always  should  have  it  for  their  tools. 

Many  feel  this  with  clocks  and  watches,  and  I 
am  deeply  sensible  of  it  in  a  sun-dial.  Of  course, 
in  the  dial,  it  may  be  partly  because  the  dial  has  a 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  1 1 

voice,  its  lines  and  numerals  speak  if  it  has  no 
motto ;  but  it  should  always  bear  a  motto  or  in¬ 
scription.  This  at  once  gives  it  a  nearness  to 
humanity;  it  is  our  kinsman,  our  fellow-countryman; 
it  speaks  our  language.  The  pointing  hand  of  the 
guide  board  gives  to  it  a  semi-human  appearance  ; 
the  simple  words  of  the  mile-stone  make  us  ever 
interested  in  it;  all  inscriptions  draw  us  close  to  the 
thing  inscribed.  I  have  told  often  of  my  love 
of  mottoes,  legends,  inscriptions,  notes  inscribed 
everywhere. 

We  have  an  orchard  seat,  and  such  a  seat  among 
fruit  trees  has  a  fresh  pleasure  for  every  spring  morn 
and  summer  day.  On  the  yellow  pine  surface  that 
forms  the  back  of  this  seat,  a  friend  has  lettered  in 
heavy  ink,  which  we  renew  in  blackness  each  spring, 
these  lines  from  Wordsworth,  which  the  poet  might 
have  written  with  this  very  orchard  spread  around 
him  :  — 

r 

“  Beneath  these  fruit-tree  boughs  that  shed 
Their  snow-white  blossoms  on  my  head 
With  brightest  sunshine  round  me  spread 
Of  Spring’s  unclouded  weather; 

In  this  sequester’d  nook  how  sweet 
To  sit  upon  my  orchard  seat  ! 

And  flowers  and  birds  once  more  to  greet. 

My  last  year’s  friends  together.” 

Now  what  is  the  result  of  that  inscription?  It 
is  this  :  the  commonplace  orchard  seat  was  made  at 
once  a  different  being;  it  was  given  a  voice  —  and 
that  voice  was  the  voice  of  a  friend.  It  did  far  more 
than  to  speak  to  us  of  the  friend  who  transcribed 


12  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

the  lines;  it  brought  to  us  Wordsworth,  and  his 
orchard  seat,  and  then  the  beauties  of  the  Lake  Coun¬ 
try  ;  it  made  travellers  think  of  the  birds  seen  there  ; 
and  it  spoke  to  us  of  many  old  friends  who  had  sat 
with  us  in  the  orchard.  Thus  it  is  with  the  motto 
on  a  sun-dial ;  it  ever  speaks,  a  different  message 
perhaps  to  each  who  reads  it,  but  an  inspiring  mes¬ 
sage,  one  sometimes  of  great  moment. 

A  motto  of  wonderful  power  is  the  few  words 
from  the  New  Testament,  for  the  night  com- 
eth.  In  Greek,  Hebrew,  Latin,  or  English  this 
motto  is  seen.  To  the  thoughtful  mind  it  ever 
recalls  the  solemn  scene  where  the  warning  words 
were  spoken,  our  Saviour’s  admonition  to  prepare 
for  eternity.  It  spoke  with  infinite  force  to  Sir 
Walter  Scott  when  he  read  it  on  his  dial  at  Abbots¬ 
ford,  urging  him  to  incessant  work.  The  story  of 
his  dial  is  told  in  his  Life  by  Lockhart,  and  the  curi¬ 
ous  fact  that  the  Greek  words  of  its  inscription  were 
incorrect.  The  presentment  of  his  dial  is  shown  on 
page  13  ;  the  photograph  was  not  taken  from  the 
original  dial,  but  from  an  exact  reproduction  of  it 
in  the  garden  at  Hillside,  Menand’s,  New  York. 
The  original  dial  was  sadly  worn  and  disordered 
when  it  was  drawn  for  Mr.  Douglas  the  publisher. 
He  had  it  repaired  and  reset,  and  had  this  reproduc¬ 
tion  made.  It  is  exact  as  to  lettering  as  well  as  shape, 
impresses  having  been  taken  from  the  dial. 

Another  thought  comes  forcibly  in  the  words,  for 
the  night  cometh,  —  the  absolute  cutting  off  of 
all  power  of  marking  the  passing  of  time  through 
the  shadowing  of  the  dial  by  night.  It  is  an  im- 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  13 


Sun-dial  at  Hillside,  Menand’s,  New  York. 


pressive  thought,  —  the  death  of  a  day.  Rossetti 
thus  expressed  it :  — 

“  Slowly  fades  the  sun  from  the  wall 
Till  day  lies  dead  on  the  sun-dial.” 

The  sentiment  and  beauty  of  the  sun-dial  ap¬ 
pealed  to  and  charmed  many  a  poet.  I  have  gath- 


14  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

ered  in  my  Common-place  Book  a  florilege  of  scores, 
almost  hundreds  of  verses,  relating  to  the  sun-dial. 
Some  of  these  sentiments  are  most  tender  and  touch¬ 
ing  ;  and  with  the  spirit  of  most  of  them  I  can 
sympathize.  I  give  the  opening  verses  of  lines 
written  by  Hugh  Miller  to  show  the  notions  he 
wished  to  express,  though  they  convey  not  a  single 
word  of  my  thought  of  a  sun-dial :  — 

“  Gray  dial-stone,  I  fain  would  know 
What  motive  placed  thee  here 
Where  darkly  opes  the  frequent  grave 
And  rests  the  frequent  bier  ; 

Ah,  bootless  creeps  the  dusky  shade 
Slow  o’er  thy  figured  plain  : 

When  mortal  life  has  passed  away 
Time  counts  his  hours  in  vain. 

“  I  think  of  those  that  raised  thee  here. 

Of  those  beneath  thee  laid. 

And  ponder  if  thou  wert  not  raised 
In  mockery  o’er  the  dead. 

Ah,  never  sure  could  mortal  man, 

Whate’re  his  age  or  clime. 

Thus  raise  in  mocking  o’er  the  dead 
The  stone  that  measures  time.” 

There  still  stands  at  the  old  home  of  Hugh  Miller 
an  ornate  dial-stone  (it  will  be  noted  that  he  never 
says  sun-dial)  which  he  cut  for  amusement  in  a 
period  of  recovery  from  illness  ;  it  is  near  another 
dial,  an  ancient  one  which  he  dug  out  of  the  earth 
when  he  was  a  boy,  and  which  had  originally  been 
set  up  in  the  old  Castle  garden  of  Cromarty.  By 
the  side  of  this  ancient  dial  Miller  first  saw  the 
young  girl  who  afterward  became  his  wife.  The 


Angel  with  Sun-dial  on  Cathedral,  Genoa,  Italy. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  15 

dial-verses  were  written  in  early  youth  ;  an  age  when 
most  poets  love  to  write  upon  death  and  gloomy 
moral  lessons.  Perhaps  had  he  written  them  after 
he  met  his  sweetheart,  they  might  have  been  more 
natural.  However,  the  chief  reason  why  I  do  not 
like  them  is  that  they  are  not  poetry  ;  they  form  a 
perfect  example  of  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale’s  amus¬ 
ing  method  given  in  his  advice  How  to  Write ,  an 
exercise  of  “  capping  verses.” 

A  true  lover  of  Charles  Lamb  asserts  that  he  ever 
finds  in  Lamb  the  best  thoughts  on  any  subject  — 
whatever  it  may  be  ;  thus,  upon  sun-dials  he  would 
believe  that  the  ideal  sentiment  was  expressed  by 
Lamb  in  his  Essay  on  the  Old  Benchers  of  the  Inner 
Temple.  It  is  indeed  inexpressibly  fine  in  poetic 
feeling  —  far  beyond  any  poem  we  have;  and  de¬ 
serves  quotation  in  full  by  all  who  write  on  dials:  — 

w  What  an  antique  air  had  the  now  almost  effaced  sun¬ 
dials  with  their  moral  inscriptions,  seeming  coevals  with 
that  time  which  they  measured,  and  to  take  their  reve¬ 
lations  of  its  flight  immediately  from  heaven,  holding  cor¬ 
respondence  with  the  fountain  of  light  !  How  would  the 
dark  line  steal  imperceptibly  on,  watched  by  the  eye  of 
childhood  eager  to  detect  its  movement,  never  catched, 
nice  as  an  evanescent  cloud,  or  the  first  arrests  of  sleep ! 

“Ah  !  vet  doth  beauty  like  a  dial-hand 
Steal  from  its  figure,  and  no  pace  perceived. 

u  What  a  dead  thing  is  a  clock,  with  its  pondrous  em- 
bowelments  of  lead  and  brass,  its  pert  or  solemn  dulness  of 
communication,  compared  with  the  simple  altar-like  struc¬ 
ture  and  silent  heart-language  of  the  old  dial. 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


1 6 


“  It  stood  as  the  garden  god  of  Christian  gardens.  Why 
is  it  almost  everywhere  vanished?  If  its  business  use  be 
suspended  by  more  elaborate  inventions,  its  moral  uses,  its 
beauty,  might  have  pleaded  for  its  continuance.  It  spoke 
of  moderate  labours,  of  pleasures  not  protracted  after  sun¬ 
set,  of  temperance  and  good 
hours.  It  was  the  primitive 
clock,  the  horologe  of  the 
first  world.  Adam  could 
scarce  have  missed  it  in 
Paradise.  It  was  the  meas¬ 
ure  appropriate  for  sweet 
plants  and  flowers  to  spring 
by,  for  the  birds  to  apportion 
their  silver  warblings  by,  for 
flocks  to  pasture  and  be  led 
to  fold  by.  The  shepherd 
4  carved  it  out  quaintly  in  the 
sun, ’and  turning  philosopher 
by  the  very  occupation,  pro¬ 
vided  it  with  mottoes  more 
touching  than  tombstones.” 

I  have  ever  been  struck 
with  one  expression  of 
Lamb  in  writing  of  the 
sun-dial ;  he  called  it  “  a 

Dante’s  Amor.  simple  altar  -  like  struc- 

By  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti.  ture  ”  js  partly  the 

classic  shape  of  the  sun-dial  —  its  altar-like  form  — 
which  charms  us;  and  a  proof  to  me  of  the  wisdom 
of  simplicity  in  outline  for  every  dial-pillar  is  in  the 
fact  that  the  simpler  forms  evoke  the  greater  senti¬ 
ment. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  17 


I  find  that  half  the  folk  who  speak  of  sun-dials 
like  to  quote  Austin  Dobson’s  verses  on  a  sun-dial, 
and  worthy  of  quotation  they  are,  and  full  of 
sentiment :  — 

“  ’Tis  an  old  dial  dark  with  many  a  stain. 

In  Summer  crowned  with  drifting  orchard  bloom. 

Tricked  in  the  Autumn  with  the  yellow  rain. 

And  white  in  Winter  like  a  marble  tomb. 

And  round  about  its  gray,  time-eaten  brow 
Lean  letters  speak  —  a  worn  and  shattered  row  :  — 

‘  I  am  a  Shade  —  a  Shadowe  too,  art  thou. 

I  mark  the  Time.  Saye  !  Gossip  !  Dost  thou  soe  ?  ’  ” 

The  last  couplet  has  been  used  as  a  motto  on 
several  sun-dials  both  in  England  and  America.  On 
a  dial  at  Grey  Friars  Churchyard,  Stirling,  is  a 
similar  motto  :  — 

I  AM  A  SHADOW,  SO  ART  THOU. 

I  MARK  TIME - DOST  THOU? 

Rossetti  felt  deeply  the  significance  and  charm  of 
the  sun-dial.  He  wrote  these  beautiful  lines:  — 

“  Stands  it  not  by  the  door  ? 

Love’s  Hour  —  ? 

Its  eyes  invisible 

Watch  till  the  dark  thin-thrown  shade 

Be  born,  — yea,  till  the  journeying  line  be  laid 
Upon  the  point  that  notes  the  spell.” 

What  mystery  the  presence  of  a  dial  adds  to  his 
beautiful  painting  of  Beata  Beatrix ,  where  a  hori¬ 
zontal  dial  on  the  widow-sill  marks  to  Beatrix  the 
coming  of  her  wonderful  death-trance.  On  page 
c 


1 8 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


1 6.  I  have  given  a  reproduction  of  the  angel  in 

Rossetti’s  beautiful  pencil 
sketch  called  Dante  s 
Amor.  This  angel  holds 
an  ancient  Saxon  sun-dial. 
Many  of  the  cathedrals 
on  the  Continent  have 
carved  angels  on  brackets 
or  corbels  holding  sun¬ 
dials.  A  beautiful  angel 
with  dial  at  Chartres  is 
here  shown ;  also  facing 
page  14  a  still  older  carv¬ 
ing  upon  the  Genoa  ca¬ 
thedral.  These  figures 
offer  wonderful  suggestion 
for  a  memorial  window- 
dial,  such  as  is  described 
in  the  succeeding  chap¬ 
ter. 

As  an  object  of  interest 
and  romance  in  a  garden, 
the  sun-dial  has  a  strong 
hold  on  our  sentiment ; 
we  have  seen  that  artists 
have  painted  it  and  poets 
have  written  of  it.  As  a 
mystery  to  childhood,  a 
trysting-place  for  faithful 
lovers,  a  sad  reminder 
to  a  deserted  sweetheart ; 
Chartres.  a  subJect  for  moralizing 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  19 

for  the  preacher,  and  of  reminiscence  to  the  aged 
gardener,  its  place  in  pictures  —  either  in  print  or 
on  canvas  —  is  a  permanent  one.  Of  all  spots  for  a 
garden-dial  the  focus  of  a  formal  garden  is  the  most 
suited  ;  that  focus  may  be  the  centre,  or  where  sev¬ 
eral  paths  converge,  or  in  a  recessed  end ;  but  wher¬ 
ever  it  is,  the  dial  should  be  the  point  of  high  interest. 
From  its  very  nature  it  is  (unless  miserably  hidden) 
that  point  of  interest.  The  poetical  suggestion  of  a 
sun-dial  never  could  be  more  fully  shown  than  in 
the  fine  picture  opposite  page  20  of  dial  and  man  ; 
for  the  man  is  the  great  English  artist,  George  F. 
Watts,  who  has  given  to  us  a  conception  of  the 
passing  of  Time  and  of  Death  which  has  ennobled 
Art,  and  robbed  Death  of  its  horror.  And  it  is  a 
beautiful  thought  that  his  dial  bears  the  motto  ot  the 
artist’s  life  —  the  utmost  for  the  highest.  1  can 
never  adequately  express  my  gratitude  for  the  kindly 
and  thoughtful  gift  of  this  photograph  taken  solely 
with  intent  to  gratify  an  unknown  author  across  the 
seas,  through  the  timely  sending  for  the  illustration 
of  her  book,  this  counterfeit  presentment  both  of 
artist  and  dial.  This  dial,  with  its  faceted  head 
of  antique  design,  was  made  for  Mr.  Watts  at  the 
Arts  and  Crafts  Association  of  his  own  village  —  a 
village  industry  where  modelling  in  terra  cotta  is 
taught  and  done. 

Through  its  inherent  characteristics  of  pictu¬ 
resqueness,  symbolism,  and  sentiment,  the  day  of  the 
dial  in  England  has  been  a  long  one;  but  in  our 
new  world  we  have  not  always  regarded  sentiment 
in  our  surroundings,  and  sun-dials  have  been  in 


20  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

retirement.  In  our  cities  they  have  vanished.  I 
did  not  for  years,  until  about  six  years  ago,  know  a 
sun-dial  upon  a  building  in  New  York  or  Brooklyn, 
save  one  a  stone’s  throw  from  my  own  home.  By 
the  side  of  Grace  Church,  in  Brooklyn,  there  runs 
down  to  the  open  gardens  on  the  beautiful  Heights 
which  overhang  the  wharves  of  the  harbor,  a  short 
and  quiet  street  called  Grace  Court.  Dwelling- 
houses  are  built  facing  the  north  on  one  side  of  the 
Court,  while  on  the  other  side  are  no  houses ;  and 
there  is  a  fine  expanse  of  adjoining  gardens  in  the 
rear  of  the  row  of  houses  which  face  on  Remsen 
Street  —  an  unusual  expanse  for  city  streets.  In 
those  gardens  and  around  the  church  there  lived  in 
our  crowded  city,  from  early  spring  till  midwinter, 
with  life  as  free  as  in  his  native  wilds,  a  great  white 
cockatoo,  who  had  escaped  from  some  South  Amer¬ 
ican  ship  as  it  lay  at  the  wharf  under  the  Heights. 
Hiding  in  the  trees  in  the  daytime,  and  perhaps  in 
the  church  tower,  he  tapped  at  friendly  windows 
at  night,  like  a  white-winged  ghost,  confident  of  the 
welcome  and  food  which  he  always  found ;  some¬ 
times  he  screamed  out  harshly  in  angry  hunger,  and 
sometimes  he  spoke,  as  he  tapped,  foreign  words  of 
greeting  or  comment  taught  him  by  the  sailor  who 
had  brought  him  to  this  port. 

Into  one  of  these  gardens  stretches  out  an  artistic 
two-storied  extension  of  fine  brick  and  terra-cotta 
walls;  and  in  the  apex  of  the  gable,  facing  the  direct 
south,  is  a  large  bronze  sun-dial  of  triangular  shape. 
It  can  from  its  prominent  position  be  plainly  seen 
by  passers-by  and  church  attendants ;  and  it  has 


George  F.  Watts,  R.A.,  seated  in  his  Garden  by  his  Sun-dial, 
Limnerslease,  Compton,  England. 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  21 


been  a  never  ceasing  source  of  pleasure  to  me  for 
many  years  to  note  how  closely  it  corresponds  to 
clock  time.  I  never  fail  to  glance  at  it  in  passing. 
I  used  to  hope  to  see  the  cockatoo  wisely  bending 
over  it ;  and  that  he  would  croak  out  to  me  over  the 
gardens,  “What’s  the  time-o’-the-day  ?  ” 

The  owner  of  this  sun-dial  when  so  few  cared  for 
sun-dials,  and  many  had  never  seen  one,  was  Samuel 
Bowne  Duryea,  Esq. ;  and  he  put  his  fancy  for  sun¬ 
dials  to  practical  use,  laying  one  around  the  flag-staff" 
at  Robin’s  Island,  tracing  the  analemma  in  colored 
stones,  where  it  was  an  object  of  interest  to  all  who 
saw  it. 

It  is  strange  that  the  sun-dial  should  have  been 
so  generally  neglected;  our  patriotism  should  have 
made  us  cherish  it  as  an  emblem  closely  connected 
with  the  early  material  prosperity  of  the  United 
States.  I  have  told  at  some  length  in  my  book  en¬ 
titled  Old  Time  Gardens ,  of  the  interesting  presence 
of  the  sun-dial  in  our  national  history  ;  but  I  must 
refer  to  it  again  here.  In  the  first  coinage  of  the 
United  States  a  sun-dial  made  frequent  appearance. 
A  design  of  a  sun-dial  was  on  the  dollar  which  was  cast 
in  silver,  then  in  bronze,  then  in  pewter  ;  it  appeared 
on  the  copper  cent  and  was  printed  on  a  paper  note 
of  the  value  of  one-third  of  a  dollar.  This  sun-dial 
bore  two  inscriptions,  one  Fugio,  the  other,  mind  your 
business.  The  word  Fugio  gave  a  name  to  this 
currency,  and  the  pieces  were  known  as  the  “Fugio 
dollar,”  the  “  Fugio  cent,”  and  the  “  Fugio  note.” 
The  cent  was  also  called  the  “Franklin  cent,”  and  is 
so  known  by  collectors  to-day.  This  was  through 


22 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Franklin’s  connection  with  the  coinage.  The  “  Fugio 
note  ”  is  here  shown,  also  a  later  use  of  a  similar  sun¬ 
dial  design  on  a  local  note  issued  by  the  city  of 
New  York. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  Franklin  had  known  much 
of  the  postal  service  of  Great  Britain  before  he 


Fugio  Note. 


became  postmaster-general  for  the  American  colonies 
under  the  crown.  And  he  had  lived  long  in  London, 
where  on  the  general  post-office  was  a  sun-dial  with 
the  motto,  be  about  your  business.  I  have  never 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  23 


doubted  that  it  was  entirely  Franklin’s  taste  which 
supplied  to  our  new  nation  the  sun-dial  design  and 
the  motto,  mind  your  business.  In  this  form, 
and  the  one  on  the  London  post-office,  and  in  the 
form,  begone  about  your  business,  it  was  found  on 
several  English  sun-dials.  The  one  in  the  Inner 
Temple  owed  its  motto  to  a  surly  reply  given  to  a 
dial-maker  who  asked  at  the  Temple  library,  as  he 
had  been  instructed,  for  “  the  motto  for  the  new  sun- 


F 


SIX  CENTS. 


6 


& 


The  Corporation  of  the  City  of 
'New  YoA promise  to  pay  the -Bearer 
On  demand ,  , , 

6  ~  s 


Six CENTS 


JYt w-Yvrk  26th  December,  1814 
Bj  Order  of  tlwCiyp oration, 

SIX  CENTS 


T.  &.  W  MtTccjn  Print  93  Gold  St, 


Six  Cent  Note  of  City  of  New  York, 


dial,  sir.”  “  Begone  about  your  business!”  was  the 
testy  answer  of  the  only  inmate  of  the  library. 
And  a  very  good  motto  it  seemed  to  the  dial-maker, 
and  the  Benchers  also,  after  it  was  put  up. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  dials  were  an  article  of 
common  manufacture  in  America,  though  I  think 
never  in  large  numbers.  Seldom  do  we  find  them 
named  in  old  tradesmen’s  lists.  I  have  seen  fifty- 
eight  different  articles  enumerated  in  one  pewterer’s 
list,  but  sun-dials  were  not  among  them.  Perhaps 
the  fact  that  each  dial  was  limited  in  its  sphere  — 
could  not  be  used  save  in  its  own  latitude — hin- 


24 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


dered  their  production.  In  England  and  on  the 
Continent  people  lived  in  close-lying  towns;  in  Eng¬ 
land  the  variation  of  latitude  could  not  be  vast;  but. 
in  the  new  world  all  was  different.  Distances  were 
great.  And  those  distances  were  chiefly  in  latitude, 
—  up  and  down  the  coast.  Therefore,  portable 
dials  would  be  sought  rather  than  fixed  ones.  There 
still  exist  in  America,  however,  old  soapstone 
moulds  used  for  the  casting  of  pewter  sun-dials. 


Ellicott  Sun-dial. 


The  steatite  mould  of  George  Ellicott,  of  Bucks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  is  in  good  condition.  He 
was  a  well-known  maker  of  sun-dials  and  high 
case-clocks,  — a  son,  I  believe,  of  the  engineer  Ellicott 
who  did  so  much  of  the  laying  out  of  the  Federal 
city  of  Washington,  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Here  is  a  pewter  dial  with  base  and  gnomon  in 
one  piece  made  recently  in  this  cast.  It  is  about 
five  inches  square  ;  is  marked  “  1779  G.  E.”  The 
hours  are  in  Roman  numerals  and  “  Lat4<D  ”  is  on  the 
side  of  the  gnomon.  I  own  a  much-worn  pewter  dial 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  25 

with  circular  base,  bearing  the  same  initials  and  date. 
It  was  given  me  by  a  friend  who  purchased  it  in 
Bucks  County  and  paid  for  the  tradition  that  it  was 
made  by  Ellicott,  as  it  undoubtedly  was. 

I  find  that  to  many  the  sun-dial  is  an  emblem 
and  voice  of  some  great  sentiment  or  hope  in  life, 
or  a  distinct  reminder  of  some  scene  or  incident,  often 
of  childhood.  Let  me  tell  the  story' of  Harriet 
Martineau’s  sun-dial  as  an  example;  it  can  best  be 
given  in  words  from  her  Autobiography.  She  went 
with  her  sisters  and  brothers  when  she  was  seven 
years  old  to  visit  her  grandfather.  On  the  way 
thither  the  five  children  were  amused  by  being  told 
to  guess  what  they  would  find  standing  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  garden.  On  her  arrival,  rudely  ignoring 
the  happy  welcome  of  the  tearful  old  people,  she 
insisted  on  seeing  “  the  thing  in  the  garden.”  She 
writes  :  — 

“  I  could  make  nothing  of  it  when  I  saw  it.  It  was  a 
large  heavy  stone  sun-dial.  It  is  worth  this  much  mention 
for  it  was  of  immeasurable  value  to  me.  I  could  see  its 
face  only  by  raising  myself  on  tiptoe  on  its  step  ;  and  there, 
with  my  eyes  level  on  the  plate,  did  I  watch  and  ponder, 
day  after  day,  painfully  forming  my  first  clear  conceptions 
of  d  ime  amidst  a  confusion  of  notions  of  day  and  night, 
and  of  the  seasons,  and  of  the  weather.  I  loved  that  dial 
with  a  sort  of  superstition,  and  when  nearlv  forty  years 
after,  I  built  a  house  for  myself  at  Ambleside,  my  strong 
wish  was  to  have  this  very  dial  for  the  platform  below  the 
terrace.  But  it  was  not  to  be  had.” 

Another  dial,  however,  she  did  have,  and  the  story 
of  its  setting  up  runs  thus,  in  her  words  :  — 


0.6 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


44  A  friend  in  London  who  knew  my  desire  for  a  sun-dial 
and  heard  that  I  could  not  obtain  the  old  one  which  had 
told  me  so  important  a  story  in  my  childhood,  presented 
me  with  one  to  stand  on  the  grass  under  my  terrace  wall 
and  above  the  quarry  which  was  already  beginning  to  fill 
with  shrubs  and  wild  flowers.  The  design  of  the  dial  is 
beautiful — being  a  copy  of  an  ancient  font;  and  in  grey 
granite,  to  accord  with  the  grey-stone  house  above  it.  The 
motto  was  an  important  affair.  A  neighbour  had  one  so 
perfect  in  its  way  as  to  eclipse  a  whole  class,  —  the  class 
of  Bible-sayings  about  the  shortness  of  life  and  the  flight 
of  time, —  ‘The  Night  Cometh.’  In  asking  my  friends 
for  suggestions,  I  told  them  of  this,  and  they  agreed  that 
we  could  not  approach  this  motto  in  the  same  direction. 
Some  good  Latin  ones,  to  which  I  inclined,  were  put  aside 
because  I  was  besought,  for  what  I  considered  good  reasons, 
to  have  nothing  but  English.  It  has  always  been  my  way 
to  ask  advice  very  rarely,  and  then  to  follow  it.  But  on 
this  occasion  I  preferred  a  motto  of  my  own  to  all  that  were 
offered  in  English  ;  and  Wordsworth  gave  it  his  emphatic 
approbation.  4  Come  !  Light !  Visit  me  !  ’  stands  emblaz¬ 
oned  on  my  dial  ;  and  it  has  ever  been,  I  believe,  as  frequent 
and  impressive  a  monitor  to  me  as  ever  was  any  dial  which 
bore  warning  of  the  fugacious  nature  of  life  and  time.” 

I  think  no  one  can  read  these  fine  and  forceful 
extracts  without  feeling  a  deep  interest  in  this  dial, 
and  I  am  glad  to  present  here  the  artistic  photograph 
of  it  sent  me  by  Miss  Martineau’s  niece. 

The  sun-dial  in  the  garden  of  Sir  William  Hum¬ 
phrey,  Great 'Brington,  Northamptonshire,  has  the 
same  speaking  motto,  come  light  !  visit  me.  The 
great  beauty  of  this  dial-pedestal,  and  its  lovely 
setting  of  tuberous  Begonias  is  shown  on  page  29. 


Sun-dial  of  Harriet  Martineau,  The  Knoll,  Ambleside,  England. 


4 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  27 

To  me  the  sun-dial  ever  recalls  two  incidental 
scenes  in  my  life.  The  first,  through  some  curious 
psychological  twist,  is  one  in  which  a  sun-dial  took 
no  part  whatever;  it  was  the  only  time  in  my  life 
when  I  felt  alone  in  the  world. 

To  few  people  and  but  seldom  is  it  given  to  feel 
utterly  alone  with  nothing  but  the  sun  and  the  earth. 
Richard  Jeffries,  in  that  perfect  prose  poem  The 
Story  of  my  Heart ,  tells  of  the  pantheism  of  the 
hills ;  of  his  sense  of  loneness  on  a  hilltop,  that 
the  earth  held  him  and  pressed  him  and  spoke  to 
him,  and  he  felt  an  emotion  that  was  as  if  his  whole 
life  were  poured  out  in  a  prayer.  It  was  in  mid¬ 
summer  that  a  similar  sense  came  to  me  as  to  that 
strange  creature,  Emily  Dickinson:  — 

“  There  came  a  dav  at  summer’s  full 
Entirely  for  me  ; 

I  thought  that  such  were  for  the  saints, 

Where  revelations  be.” 

I  had  driven  with  my  father  to  a  remote  farm, 
and  we  had  gone  into  a  halt-evergreen  pasture  to 
gather  from  the  abundance  of  exquisite  Azaleas, 
when  my  father  recalled  that  he  had  left  an  over- 
garment  at  the  empty  farm-house  adown  the  hill, 
and  he  drove  back  to  secure  it,  leaving  me  alone 
fiower-gathering  in  the  rocky  hill-pasture. 

There  was  not  a  house  in  sight,  for  an  edging  of 
fine  old  pine  woods  surrounded  the  pasture,  and  the 
tall  tree-spires  cut  it  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
and  left  it  high  on  the  hilltop,  and  the  road  thither 
was  scarce  more  than  an  overgrown  lane  and  soon 


4 


28  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

vanished  into  the  trees.  I  had  as  I  sat  there  wait¬ 
ing,  a  distinct  impression,  as  did  Jeffries,  that  I  was 
alone  in  the  world.  My  father  would  never  return, 
I  should  never  see  mortal  face  again  ;  and  I  did  not 
care  to.  1  was  so  filled  with  the  beauty  of  the  scene, 
the  perfume,  the  song  of  birds,  above  all  the  great 
heat  and  glow  of  that  radiant  sun  of  June  that  I  was 
possessed  with  a  sort  of  obsession  ;  an  absolutely 
pagan  sense  of  sun-worship  and  of  the  isolated  com¬ 
pleteness  of  that  beautiful  moment  —  and  I  felt  no 
desire  for  life  beyond,  either  in  this  world  or  the 
next;  though,  as  the  old  poet  Vaughan  said, — 

“I  felt  through  all  this  fleshly  dress 
Bright  shoots  of  everlastingness.” 

All  my  thoughts  and  senses  seemed  emancipated. 
I  was  conscious  to  the  keenest  degree  of  what  Shake¬ 
speare  termed  “my  glassy  essence.”  I  cannot,  of 
course,  feel  thus  whenever  I  stand  by  a  sun-dial ; 
but  the  dial  always  recalls  this  scene  to  my  mind. 
It  speaks  with  no  uncertain  voice  of  that  after¬ 
noon  when  I  was  alone  in  the  New  England  hill- 
pasture  and  in  the  whole  world. 

The  second  scene  is  not  so  remote  in  my  life ; 
it  was  nearly  fifteen  years  ago  that  I  was  shown  a 
friend’s  sun-dial ;  one  of  the  few  garden-dials  then 
to  be  found  in  America.  I  saw  it  on  one  of  those 
strangely  warm  and  beautiful  days  which  we  have 
sometimes  during  the  first  weeks  in  April  in  New 
England,  —  an  April  which  is  often  bleak  as  the 
first  of  March,  and  not  wholly  absolved  from  dread 
of  snow  flurries.  These  beautiful  days  of  April  are 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  29 

like  none  other ;  for  the  sun  is  so  burning  at  mid¬ 
day  and  there  is  such  a  pervasive  feeling  of  ten¬ 
tative  greenness,  though  nothing  is  really  green. 
I  have  shown  this  atmosphere  to  a  wonderful 
degree  for  black  and  white  in  an  illustration  on 


Sun-dial  of  Sir  William  Humphrey,  Bart.,  Great  Brington,  North¬ 
amptonshire. 


page  155  of  my  Old  Time  Gardens  in  a  Lilac  pic¬ 
ture  entitled  Opyn-tide ,  the  Thought  of  Spring  — 
“  Whenne  that  flowres  think  on  blowen.”  On 
such  a  day  we  suddenly  find  that  there  are  Ladies 
Delights  in  bloom  as  well  as  Snowdrops,  and  the 


jo  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

quick  ear  catches  the  buzz  of  bees,  —  ever  welcome 
and  happy  sound  after  months  of  snow  and  silence 
in  the  garden.  There  is  an  old  Chinese  saying, — 

“  Ere  Man  is  aware 
That  the  Spring  is  here 
The  Flowers  have  found  it  out.” 

And  we  can  add,  “  The  bees  have  found  that  the 
flowers  are  out.”  On  this  day  in  Opyn-tide  we  fol¬ 
lowed  the  loved  sound  of  these  humming  bees 
around  a  Lilac  corner,  and  there  they  were,  sur¬ 
rounding  the  sun-dial,  bumping  against  it  in  their 
heavy,  benumbed  first  flight.  And  there  —  open  so 
wide  in  the  hot  sunshine  that  their  glowing  petals 
seemed  fairly  reflexed  to  the  base  of  the  stems,  not 
only  open  but  bent  back  to  drink  in  the  sunshine 
—  were  scores  of  beautiful  purple  and  golden  and 
snowy  Crocus  blossoms,  planted  in  affection  that 
the  sun-dial  might  have  the  first  flowering  of  spring. 

There,  by  the  sun-dial  and  the  shining  Crocus- 
cups,  came  to  me  a  line  of  rare  Ben  Jonson’s, — 

“  The  World  may  find  the  Spring  by  following  her,” 

a  line  which  might  have  been  written  for  my  mother. 
With  such  inner  light  did  she  know  where  flowers 
grew  —  whether  in  garden,  grove,  or  meadow,  —  so 
constantly  was  her  path  filled  with  flowers,  that  they 
seemed  to  throng  lovingly  around  her  rather  than 
that  she  went  to  search  for  them. 

“  Here  was  she  wont  to  go  !  and  here  !  and  here  ! 

Just  where  these  daisies,  pinks,  and  violets  grow, 

The  world  may  find  the  Spring  by  following  her. 

And  where  she  went,  the  flowers  took  thickest  root.” 


The  Charm  and  Sentiment  of  Sun-dials  31 

She  ever  gathered  in  gentle  triumph  the  first¬ 
lings  of  spring,  —  the  earliest  Snowdrops,  the  little 
stunted  Ladies’  Delights,  the  half-frozen  spires  of 
Scilla.  And  she  ever  spied,  ere  we  deemed  them 
out  of  the  frozen  ground,  the  first  glint  of  yellow 
Crocus. 

So  as  I  stood  by  this  dial  I  had  a  picture  in  my 
heart ;  the  one  which  ever  comes  to  me  now  as  I 
stand  by  a  garden-dial.  I  could  see  my  mother’s 
eager,  bright-eyed,  smiling  face,  as  she  leaned  over 
the  Crocus  bed  and  listened  to  the  murmurous  hum 
of  the  bees  as  they  buzzed,  half-chilled,  from  flower 
to  flower.  “  How  do  they  know  that  winter  is  gone,” 
she  said,  “  when  we  scarce  know  it  ourselves?  Where 
have  they  been  throughout  the  snow  ?  From  whence 
do  they  come  ?  How  do  they  know  —  who  told  them 
—  that  here  in  my  garden  these  purple  and  yellow 
cups  are  opened  for  them  ?  ” 


“Ah,  far  away  in  some  serener  air 

The  eyes  that  loved  them  see  a  heavenly  dawn,” 

and  I  sigh  as  I  turn  from  the  sun-dial,  but  I  read 
its  motto  :  Lux  et  Umbra  Vicissim ,  sed  semper  Amor 

- LIGHT  AND  SHADOW  BY  TURNS,  BUT  ALWAYS  LOVE. 


CHAPTER  II 


NOON-MARKS,  SPOT-DIALS,  WINDOW-DIALS 


“The  learned  line  showeth  the  city’s  hour.” 

—  Motto  on  Sun-dial  in  Milan. 

“  Little  sun  upon  the  ceiling 
Ever  moving,  ever  stealing 

Moments,  minutes,  hours  away. 

May  no  shade  forbid  thy  shining 
While  the  heavenly  sun  declining 

Calls  us  to  improve  the  day.” 

—  Motto  on  Ceiling-dial  at  Theobald' s. 

“  Whilst  Phoebus  on  me  shines 
Then  view  my  shades  and  lines.” 

—  Motto  on  Manz  Dial. 

WONDER  whether  you, 
my  gentle  reader,  have  ever 
read  a  book  entitled  Mar¬ 
garet,  which  was  published 
just  half  a  century  ago.  Its 
author  was  Reverend  Syl¬ 
vester  Judd,  a  New  England 
minister  of  severest  Puritan 
rearing  ,  and  environment. 
He  says  in  the  curious 
“  author’s  note  ”  which  forms  a  preface,  that  he 
spent  in  writing  it  over  ten  years;  meaning  by 
that  the  hard-won  hours  of  leisure  of  a  decade 


32 


The  Oldest  English  Sun-dial,  Bewcastle,  England. 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  33 

of  the  life  of  a  New  England  “painful  preacher.” 
The  first  part  of  the  book  offers,  without  doubt, 
the  most  valuable  picture  which  exists  of  domestic 
life  in  a  small  New  England  community  in  the 
years  that  “  take  our  country  as  it  emerges  from 
the  Revolution,”  and  for  half  a  century  thereafter; 
not  a  grandly  rounded  picture  as  a  whole,  but  a 
photographic  presentation  of  details.  On  the  sin¬ 
gular  charm  of  the  book  I  do  not  dwell,  as  all  are 
not  sensible  of  it.  The  author  says  in  his  fanciful 
“ phantasmagorical”  first  chapter  or  introduction  :  — 

“  The  child  is  Margaret,  of  whom  we  have  many 
things  to  say,  and  whom  we  hope  to  reveal  more  perfectly 
to  you.  So  far  as  this  book  is  concerned,  she  is  for  you 
all  as  much  as  if  she  were  your  own  child  ;  and  if  you 
cared  anything  about  her  when  you  did  not  know  her,  we 
desire  that  your  regards  may  not  subside  when  you  do 
know  her,  even  if  she  be  not  your  own  child ;  and  we 
dedicate  this  memoir  of  her  to  all  who  are  interested  in  her 
and  care  to  read  about  her.” 

By  the  engaging  simplicity  of  this  introduction  a 
spell  is  thrown  on  many  readers.  The  author  said 
in  a  later  edition  that  he  had  been  called  “unequal, 
grotesque,  mermaiden,  abrupt”  —  and  he  was  called 
so  with  truth,  though  I  scarcely  am  sure  what  his 
adjective  “  mermaiden  ”  means  ;  the  book  is  certainly 
whimsical  and  capricious,  for  the  last  part  portrays  as 
unnatural  a  picture  of  life  as  the  first  two  parts  are 
true.  It  is  all  quaint,  however,  in  the  truest  sense 
of  that  (of  late)  overworked  term.  The  book  always 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  composed  under  a  certain 


34  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

inspiration,  an  obsession  of  some  spirit  of  the  past. 
Of  course  the  fact  that  it  was  ten  years  in  the  writing 
thereof  would  not  carry  out  my  theory;  we  always 
think  of  true  inspiration  in  the  form  of  a  tour  de  force. 
As  a  valuable  depository  of  ancient  words,  phrases, 
usages,  and  things,  of  terms  and  expressions  of  colo¬ 
nial  days,  it  should  be  studied  page  by  page  and  line 
upon  line,  by  every  historical  writer,  whether  of  the 
drama  or  of  definitions  in  the  dictionary,  to  which, 
indeed,  it  has  contributed  much  valuable  evidence. 

I  turn  naturally  to  Margaret  to  find  whether  sun¬ 
dials  were  in  common  use  in  New  England  after  the 
Revolution  ;  here  is  a  bit  of  a  scene  in  an  opening 
chapter,  entitled,  “Work  and  Beauty;  an  Impres¬ 
sion  of  the  Real,”  —  it  is  but  a  simple  asking  of  the 
time-o’-the-day :  — 

“  The  child  Margaret  sits  in  the  door  of  her  house  on  a 
low  stool  with  a  small  wheel,  winding  spools,  ‘quilling’ 
for  her  mother,  who,  in  a  room  near  by,  is  mounted  in  a 
loom,  weaving  and  smoking;  the  fumes  of  her  pipe  min¬ 
gling  with  the  whizz  of  the  shuttle  and  the  jarring  of  the 
lathe  and  the  clattering  of  treadles.  From  a  windle  the 
thread  is  conducted  to  the  quills,  and  buzz,  buzz,  goes 
Margaret’s  wheel,  while  a  gray  squirrel,  squatted  on  her 
shoulder,  inspects  the  operation  with  profound  gravity. 

“  ‘  Look  up  the  chimney,  child,’  says  the  mother,  ‘  and 
see  what  time  it  is.’ 

“  ‘  I  don’t  know  how,’  replies  Margaret. 

“  ‘  I  suppose  we  must  get  the  Master  to  learn  you  your 
a  b  c’s  in  this  matter,’  rejoined  the  mother.  ‘  When  the 
sun  gets  in  one  nick,  it  is  ten  o’clock  ;  when  it  reaches  the 
stone  that  bouges  out  there,  it  is  dinner  time.  How  many 
quills  have  you  done  ?  ’ 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  35 

utThe  basket  is  full,  and  the  box  besides.  Chilion  said 
I  might  go  and  sail  with  him.’ 

“‘We  have  a  great  deal  to  do.  Miss  Gisborne’s  flannel 
is  promised  the  last  of  the  week,  and  it  must  be  drawn  in  to¬ 
morrow.  I  want  you  to  clean  the  skans;  there  is  a  bunch 
of  lucks  down  cellar,  bring  them  up  ;  get  some  plantain 
and  dandelion  on  the  smooth  for  greens  ;  you  must  pick 
over  these  beans,  put  some  kindlers  under  the  pot,  then  you 
may  go.’  ” 

Now!  There  is  a  half  page  of  plainest  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  simplest  home-life  ;  yet  almost  every 
line,  certainly  every  sentence,  contains  a  word  or 
phrase,  or  refers  to  a  deed  as  obsolete  and  as  abso¬ 
lutely  incomprehensible  to  a  New  England  country 
child  to-day,  as  would  be  a  sun-dial  to  him,  or  as 
was  the  time-marking  of  the  open  chimney-place  to 
Margaret.  I  venture  to  assert,  also,  that  half  of  my 
readers  will  possess  a  like  ignorance.  Nowhere 
throughout  the  book  is  a  sun-dial  referred  to  ;  and 
to  me  this  proof  is  absolute  of  their  rarity.  If 
there  had  been  a  sun-dial,  Margaret  would  certainly 
have  run  to  it.  Nor  in  the  extraordinary  Boston 
to  which  Margaret  fled  in  her  shadowed  girlhood 
was  there  a  sun-dial  in  the  Wiswell  garden  ;  nor 
was  there  one  in  the  wholly  artificial  garden  and 
surprising  home  created  for  her  as  a  wife. 

One  of  the  simplest  devices  by  which  the  midday 
hour  was  made  known  to  dwellers  in  rural  homes 
earlier  than  Margaret’s  day  was  a  noon-mark.  The 
dweller  in  town  or  village  had  the  noon  bell  from  the 
church  steeple,  but  on  nearly  every  farm-house  was  a 
noon-mark,  usually  by  a  frequented  door  or  window. 


36  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

I  have  seen  them  many  a  time  on  the  threshold  of  a 
barn,  at  the  kitchen  doorstep,  or  outside  the  pantry. 
Country  folk  grew  very  skilful  in  telling  the  relative 
time  from  a  noon-mark.  I  knew  one  old  woman 
who,  by  her  kitchen  noon-mark,  could  tell  the 
hours  from  ten  to  four  without  a  variation  of  four 
minutes,  which  is  in  general  all  that  would  be  ex¬ 
pected  from  a  watch  —  from  a  woman’s  watch. 
Noon-marks  have  been  set  in  the  form  of  a  line  of 
colored  pebbles  in  well-laid  earth  or  cement  at  the 
base  of  some  stationary  pole  or  flagstaff.  We  have 
them  in  several  of  our  ((  Homes”  —  or  refuges  for 
life-wrecked  sailors  and  life-beaten  soldiers. 

To  whatever  country  we  wander  we  find  among 
all  uncivilized  peoples  this  vertical  pole  fixed  in  the 
ground  as  a  primitive  gnomon.  In  India  and  other 
Asiatic  lands  the  natives  are  wise  in  reading  the 
hours  of  this  simple  dial,  making  it  serve  as  an  exact 
chronometer.  The  Labrador  Indians  when  on  the 
hunt  stalk  on  in  advance  of  the  train  with  their 
arms  ;  while  the  women,  heavily  laden  with  provi¬ 
sions  and  means  of  shelter  drag  along  slowly  after. 
When  the  lords  and  masters  begin  to  think  of 
food-time,  or  wish  in  any  way  to  leave  some  guide 
as  to  their  progress  for  the  squaws,  they  thrust 
an  upright  stick  or  spear  in  the  snow,  and  draw 
in  the  snow  the  exact  line  of  the  shadow  then  cast. 
The  women,  toiling  painfully  along,  note  the  spear, 
and  the  progress  of  the  shadow,  and  know  closely  the 
difference  of  time.  They  know,  too,  whether  they 
dare  to  linger  for  a  few  minutes’  rest,  or  if  they  must 
hastily  catch  stick  or  spear  and  wearily  hurry  on. 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  37 

In  Upper  Egypt  the  hours  for  work  on  a  water¬ 
wheel  are  still  fixed  by  primitive  sun-dials  which 
are  scarce  more  than  noon-marks.  One  of  these 
sun-dials  is  made  by  extending  a  maize  or  dhurra 
stalk  north  and  south  on  two  forked  uprights.  At 
the  side  are  set  in  the  earth  pegs  which  evenly  divide 
the  space  between  the  sunrise  and  sunset  shadows 
of  this  dhurra  stalk.  In  the  other  dial  the  gnomon 
is  a  vertical  stick.  Often  the  pegs  are  nearly  covered 
by  the  soil,  so  firmly  are  they  pressed  in,  in  order 
to  avoid  being  moved  by  the  feet  of  cattle  or  men. 
The  space  between  two  pegs  is  called  an  alka  from 
an  Arabic  root  meaning  to  hang  or  hitch  on.  The 
harnessing  of  a  bullock  to  a  water-wheel  is  merely 
the  hitching  on  of  a  loop  of  harness  over  a  hook. 
To  the  question,  What  do  you  do  when  the  shadow 
reaches  this  peg?  the  answer  always  came,  “We 
hitch  on  another  bullock.”  These  sun-dials  are  con¬ 
structed  entirely  upon  observation,  with  no  scientific 
knowledge.  An  English  scientist  was  once  asked  by 
the  celebrated  Sheik  Daig,  as  a  test  of  his  learning, 
to  construct  a  sun-dial.  While  the  Englishman 
was  making  full  explanations  of  latitudes,  horizontal 
planes,  etc.,  the  Sheik  abruptly  interrupted  by  thrust¬ 
ing  his  spear  in  the  ground  and  marking  therefrom 
on  the  ground  the  exact  lines  of  shadow  which 
would  fall  at  certain  hours  of  prayer.  Though  this 
primitive  time-teller  still  is  used,  there  are  no  ancient 
Egyptian  sun-dials  known  ;  nor  is  it  anywhere  stated 
in  ancient  writings  that  the  Egyptians  used  their 
obelisks  as  gnomons. 

At  Settle  in  Yorkshire,  England,  rises  a  hill 


38  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Natural  Sun-dial  at  Settle,  Yorkshire,  England. 

called  Castleberg.  Until  about  a  hundred  years  ago 
a  great  mass  of  rock  on  that  hill  formed  a  natural 
sun-dial.  It  is  shown  rather  crudely  on  this  page  in 
a  reproduction  of  an  old  engraving,  given  in  Smith’s 
Old  Yorkshire.  It  is  thus  described  in  the  letters 
of  Bishop  Pococke,  written  in  1750,  and  now  edited 
for  the  Camden  Society  :  — 

“  Crossing  the  Ribble,  we  came  in  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
to  Settle,  a  little  town  situated  under  a  high  rocky  hill ; 
on  the  lower  part  of  which,  four  stones  being  placed,  they 
serve  as  a  sun-dial  to  the  country  for  three  or  four  miles 
southward,  as  they  know  what  hour  of  the  morn  it  is  the 
shadow  comes  to  them  from  nine  to  twelve.” 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  39 


The  stones  have  disappeared,  but  the  memory  of 
the  sun-dial  still  lingers  as  well  as  the  drawings  and 
engravings  of  it.  Many  “  natural  ”  sun-dials  exist. 
In  Ireland  as  late  as  1813  very  few  persons  owned 
clocks  and  watches,  and  each  settlement  had  some 
natural  dial  by  which  the  nine  watches  of  the  day 
were  shown  by  the  sun’s  passage  over  certain  moun¬ 
tain-peaks,  or  over  set  pyramids  of  stones  if  the 
natural  formations  did  not  afford  a  suitable  object 
as  a  marking  place.  In  Norway  similar  modes  have 
been  used  to  mark  the  time.  Simpler  shadow-marks 
are  known  to  many  dwellers  in  isolated  homes  ;  and 
I  well  recall  the  deploration  I  heard  some  years  ago 
in  a  New  England  village  because  a  certain  great 
pine  tree  which  had  cast  a  much-consulted  noon- 
mark  had  fallen  in  a  storm. 

Since  the  year  1792  an  obelisk  has  stood  in  the 
Piazza  Monte  Citorio  at  Rome.  It  has  had  a  varied 
history,  having  been  lost  to  sight  for  many  years.  Its 
entire  service  in  casting  a  noon-mark,  after  it  was  first 
brought  from  Egypt,  is  thus  told  by  old  Pliny:  — 

u  As  for  that  Obelisk  that  stands  as  a  gnomon  in 
Mars  Field,  Augustus  Caesar  devised  a  wonderfull  means 
that  it  should  serve  to  mark  out  the  noontide,  with  the 
length  of  day  and  night  according  to  the  Shadowes  which 
the  Sun  doth  yeeld  by  it ;  for  hee  placed  underneath  at  the 
foot  of  the  said  Obelisk,  according  to  the  bignes  and  height 
thereof,  a  pavement  of  broad  stone,  wherein  a  man  might 
know  the  fixt  hour  at  mid-day,  when  the  shadow  was  equal 
to  the  Obelisk;  and  how  little  by  little  according  to  certain 
Rules  (which  are  lines  of  brasse  inlaid  within  the  said  stone) 
the  days  of  increase  or  decrease.” 


40  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Many  noon-marks  in  foreign  edifices  are  interest¬ 
ing;  one  at  the  church  of  St.  Petronio,  Bologna,  is 
220  feet  in  length  and  was  traced  in  1653.  Another 
is  at  St.  Sulpice  in  Paris.  At  Salisbury  Cathedral  a 
perpendicular  meridian  line  has  been  marked  on  the 
north  boundary  wall  of  the  Close.  The  spire  of 
the  cathedral  serves  as  a  gnomon  and  throws  its 
shadow  at  noon.  The  word  Meredies  is  engraved 
inside  the  line. 

When  the  city  of  Albany  had  as  a  mayor  a  man 
of  parts,  Hon.  John  Boyd  Thatcher,  he  caused  to 
be  placed  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  a  carefully  traced 
brass  noon-mark,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  a 
meridian  line.  This  serves  to  invite  a  vast  number 
of  inquiries  and  to  elicit  some  surprising  answers; 
one  being  that  it  “  marked  the  end  of  a  telephone  ”  ; 
another  that  it  marked  the  boundary  of  an  Indian 
grant ;  another  from  a  boy  who  said  in  all  serious¬ 
ness  that  the  mayor  put  it  in  for  the  boys  to  take 
“  cat  slides  ”  on  —  a  cat-slide  being,  I  must  explain 
to  those  who  know  not,  a  bit  of  clean  ice  on  a  citv 
street  whereon  a  boy  —  yes,  and  a  man,  too  —  can 
by  a  slight  run  have  impetus  to  slide  swiftly  and 
happily  on  one  or  both  feet  to  the  very  end.  The 
brass  meridian  line  serves  so  well  this  purpose,  it 
cannot  be  wondered  that  the  boy  assumed  it  to  be 
its  only  reason  for  being. 

I  would  like  to  see  these  fine  brass  meridan  lines 
much  more  frequent  than  we  do  on  the  floor  of 
broad  vestibules,  of  open  porches,  of  large  plazas, 
of  paved  terraces  ;  wherever  the  clear  sun  rays  can 
shine  and  prove  the  use  of  the  noon-mark ;  and  in 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  41 

one  place  I  should  like  to  see  a  noon-mark  which 
would  be  of  world-wide  importance  —  at  Wash¬ 
ington. 

I  beg  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  and  the  Commissioners  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  to  an  opportunity  of  easily 
making  the  finest  sun-dial  in  the  entire  world,  or 
if  not  that,  the  finest  noon-mark.  The  Washington 
Monument,  with  its  superb  shaft  555  feet  in  height, 
most  glorious  of  all  gnomons,  traces  unmarked  day 
by  day  its  wonderful  parabolic  path  on  the  green¬ 
sward  around  it.  What  a  beautiful  sight  it  would 
be  if  the  Government  would  order  the  tracing  of 
its  analemma  and  mark  the  hours  with  beds  of 
flowers  !  What  an  instructive  and  inspiring  object 
it  would  be  to  all  who  visit  that  great  Monument; 
there  might  arise  from  its  inspiration  some  thought¬ 
ful  youth,  another  Ferguson  or  Wren,  to  add  to 
the  list  of  the  great  mathematicians  of  the  world. 
If  a  sun-dial  is  not  traced,  a  meridan  line  positively 
should  be  set;  a  line  of  stone  or  white  marble,  a 
noon-mark  in  the  grass.  This  would  not  equal  the 
dial,  but  would  be  better  than  the  unmarked  round 
of  to-day. 

We  had  the  meridian  line  in  Washington  surveyed 
and  marked  in  noble  fashion  when  the  City  and 
District  were  first  laid  out;  and  the  most  interesting 
meridian  line  in  the  whole  world  should  naturally 
be  to  Americans  this  famous  national  meridian  line 
of  the  United  States;  but  it  has  fared  at  our  hands 
as  though  it  were  an  object  of  obloquy  instead  of 
pride. 


42 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


On  the  15th  of  April  in  1791  there  was  laid  with 
solemn  and  elaborate  Masonic  ceremonial  the  corner¬ 
stone  of  the  District  of  Columbia  ;  now  half-for¬ 
gotten  and  hidden  from  view,  this  mighty  symbol 
of  our  vast  nation  forms  part  of  the  foundation 

wall  of  the  lighthouse  at 


3 

v\ 

f 

)glt ) 

est  \ 

f 

om  \ 

euw/\ 

/ 

77 

/// 

sts  s 

\ 

I 

$r 


Jones  Point  near  Alexan¬ 
dria,  Virginia.  The  ten 
miles  of  the  District 
were  marked  during  the 
following  year  with  mile¬ 
stones,  which  bore  num¬ 
bers,  and  on  the  District 
side  the  words,  “Juris¬ 
diction  of  the  United 
States,”  on  the  other  the 
names  of  the  surrounding 
states,  dates,  etc.  These 
stones  are  known  in  their 
neighborhood  as  “Juris¬ 
diction  Stones.”  As  it 
was  then  the  custom  of 


Drawing  of  the  Meridian  Stone  of  various  great  nations  to 
.he  United  States  of  America.  reckon  longitude  from 

their  own  capitals,  —  and  a  bad  system  it  was,  —  our 
Revolutionary  ancestors  promptly  proposed  that  the 
new  nation  should  have  its  meridian  line.  On  L’En- 
fant’s  plan  for  the  Federal  city  appears  a  mark  for  an 
historic  column  (now  the  site  of  the  Emancipation 
Statue  in  Lincoln  Park),  and  from  this  column  all 
distances  through  the  continent  were  to  be  calcu¬ 
lated.  But  when  Ellicott,  another  engineer,  laid  off 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  4 3 

the  streets,  avenues,  and  “  appropriations,”  as  they 
were  called,  he  began  by  drawing  a  true  meridian  line 
through  the  “Congress  House,”  or  Capitol. 

But  the  Meridian  Hill  known  to  old  Washing¬ 
tonians  is  not  at  the  Capitol,  but  north  of  the  White 
H  ouse,  at  the  head  of  Sixteenth  Street,  so  there  is 
another  meridian  to  consider.  In  a  letter  (now  in 
the  State  Department)  written  to  President  Jefferson 
by  Nicholas  King,  it  appears  that  King  laid  out  a 
meridian  line  along  Sixteenth  Street  in  1804.  The 
letter  is  given  by  Mr.  Marcus  Baker  in  his  inter¬ 
esting  article,  “  Surveys  and  Maps  of  the  District 
of  Columbia.”  An  obelisk  was  planted  on  the  top 
of  a  hill  north  of  the  president’s  house;  and  two 
stones  were  set  near  the  site  of  the  Washington 
Monument.  This  obelisk  is  gone  and  the  site  un¬ 
marked.  Another  was  set  near  the  Capitol  and 
called  the  Capitol  Stone ;  this  is  also  vanished  and 
the  site  unmarked.  Another  stone,  known  as  the 
Jefferson  Stone,  was  also  set.  The  site  of  this  is 
known. 

Admiral  Porter  had  a  house  at  the  head  of  Six¬ 
teenth  Street;  on  the  southern  lawn  stood  a  low 
sandstone  block  on  which  was  placed  a  brass  sun¬ 
dial.  This  has  been  called  the  Meridian  Stone;  it 
was  removed  and  is  now  doing  service  as  a  carriage 
step  at  the  corner  of  R  and  Fourteenth  streets. 
This  was  not,  so  Mr.  Baker  infers,  the  original  stone. 
The  true  meridian  stone,  set  in  1804,  stood  where 
placed  until  some  time  in  the  seventies,  when  Merid¬ 
ian  Hill  was  graded  down.  The  stone  was  carried 
to  the  District  building  and  thrown  in  a  rubbish  heap. 


44 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Later,  when  Lieutenant  Lloxie  was  on  duty,  it  was 
sent  to  the  Reform  School  and  set  up  as  a  hitching 
post.  It  is  about  four  feet  in  height  and  was  origi¬ 
nally  square  in  section  and  slightly  tapering.  It  bore 
the  inscription  lettered  thus  :  — 

Longitude 

West 

from 

Greenwich 

76°  56'  5" 

The  corners  have  been  cut  off,  and  this  lettering 
only  remains:  — 

igit 

est 

om 

enwi 

56' 


Ayj 

°t 

|\)oo  id 


There  are  many  ways  of  making  a  noon-mark. 
A  very  unscientific  but  very  satisfactory  one  is  this  : 
On  either  April  15,  June  15,  September  1,  or  De¬ 
cember  24,  the  four  days  of  the  year  when  the  sun 
and  the  clock  are  exactly  together,  secure  a  watch  or 
clock,  known  to  be  exact  by  some  standard  time. 
Then  on  the  surface  where  you  desire  to  draw  your 
moon-mark  cast  a  straight  shadow  at  twelve  by  your 
watch,  and  mark  it  definitely.  Another  way;  is  on 
any  clear  night,  hang  (out-of-doors)  two  plumb-lines 
in  such  a  position  that  on  sighting  from  one  to  the 
other  the  North  Star  will  be  in  exact  range.  Drive 
two  stakes  exactly  in  the  place  of  the  two  plumb- 
lines,  and  when  the  shadow  at  noon  of  one  stake 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  45 


extends  precisely  to  the  other  stake,  that  shadow-line 
makes  an  accurate  noon-mark. 

An  interesting  noon-mark  has  been  for  many 
years  at  Durham  Cathedral,  England,  and  is  shown 
in  a  curious  manner.  About  ten  feet  from  the  floor 
a  thin  piece  of  stone  having  in  it  a  circular  hole 


Sun-dial  at  Elm  Hirst,  Wilmslow,  England. 


about  an  inch  in  diameter  is  inserted  in  a  window. 
Through  this  opening  shine  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
throwing  a  bright  spot  of  light,  which  at  noon  falls 
on  the  meridian  line.  This  contrivance  at  Dur¬ 
ham  Cathedral  forms  one  of  a  class  called  spot- 
dials,  or  when  evidenced  from  reflected  light,  “  re¬ 
flective-dials.”  Such  was  the  dial  made  by  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  when  a  boy.  He  painted  a  dial- 
face  on  the  ceiling  of  his  room,  and  the  spot  of 


4 6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


light  was  cast  upon  the  hour  lines  by  means  of  a 
bit  of  mirror  fixed  horizontally  in  the  window  ledge. 
This  was  in  the  house  of  his  grandmother,  Mrs. 
Ayscough.  The  plaster  ceiling  with  the  marks  of 
the  hours,  etc.,  is  still  preserved  in  the  new  house 
which  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  house  wherein 
this  “ceiling-dial”  or  “reflective-dial”  was  originally 
made. 

I  own  a  number  of  old  books  on  dialling,  and  I 
find  these  ceiling-dials  a  “favorite  conceit”  of  the 
old  diallers  ;  one  of  them  says :  “  I  confesse  it  is  a 
pleasant  thing  to  behold  how  Art  hath  taught  the'. 
Sunne  to  trace  out  those  Lines  and  Parallels  by  Re¬ 
flection  from  a  Glasse,  which  his  direct  beames  can 
never  shine  upon.”  In  Leybourne’s  Dialling  (my 
copy  is  a  vast  folio  of  the  year  1700)  many  rules 
and  designs  are  given.  One  of  his  window-dials  I 
copy  facing  this  page.  In  his  rules  many  curious  and 
antiquated  terms  appear,  such  as  “  quarry s  ”  and 
“quarrels”  of  glass;  the  “jaums  of  a  jetty  window,” 
the  cheek-posts,”  etc. 

By  such  rules  as  these  was  young  Newton  allured 
to  try  his  skill.  Leybourne’s  rules  for  making  win¬ 
dow-dials  and  reflective-dials  are  very  clear  and  easy 
to  understand. 

An  extraordinary  ceiling-dial  was  made  by  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  when  but  a  mere  boy;  it  must  be 
recalled  that  dialling  was  then  a  part,  not  only  of  an 
advanced  education,  but  also  of  a  plainer  everyday 
schooling.  Wren  had  translated,  in  1647,  Ought- 
red’s  Geometrical  Dialling  into  Latin,  when  he  was 
fourteen,  and  it  had  been  published;  and  he  had 


Window-dial,  Leybourne’s  Dialling. 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  47 

thus  acquired  a  knowledge  both  of  mathematics  to 
make  this  ceiling-dial,  and  of  Latin  for  the  inscrip¬ 
tion,  which,  translated,  reads  thus  :  — 

uChr.  Wren  :  One  who  was  content  to  depict  upon  this 
narrow  ceiling  the  pattern  of  the  sky,  obtained  from  Phoe¬ 
bus  the  gift  of  a  rival  of  his  rays,  an  image  upon  a  mirror; 
that  would  pass  over  this  heaven  with  borrowed  light  and 
make  an  effigy  of  his  yearly  course.  1648  years  after  the 
time  wherein  in  very  truth  Man  was  made  God  from  a 
Virgin’s  womb,  and  in  the  1 6th  year  of  (the  maker’s) 
youthful  age.” 

In  this  inscription  the  dates  are  formed  by  chrono¬ 
grams —  the  capitalization  of  certain  letters  in  the 
last  lines  of  the  inscription  ;  this  was  one  of  the 
fashionable  fancies  in  inscriptions  of  that  day.  I 
have  referred  more  fully  to  Wren  and  his  interesting 
teacher  in  my  chapter  on  “  Ingeniose  Diallers.” 

This  ceiling-dial  was  but  one  of  the  “universally 
curious”  works  of  what  Evelyn  called  that  “pro¬ 
digious  young  scholar  Mr  Chr  Wren.”  Evelyn 
saw  at  Oxford  “  a  variety  of  shadows,  dyals,  pro¬ 
spective  and  many  other  artificial,  mathematical,  and 
magical  curiosities,  a  way-wiser,  a  thermometer,  a 
monstrous  magnet,  and  other  sections,  a  ballance 
on  a  demi-arch  ”  —  these  the  work  of  Wren  and 
his  teacher. 

A  way-wiser  was  an  instrument  known  now  as  an 
odometer  or  perambulator  —  the  Latin  derivatives 
having  replaced  the  simple  old  word,  meaning  a 
something  to  make  you  wise  or  knowing  of  the  way 
you  have  fared.  A  way-wiser  seems  to  have  been 
for  many  years  a  sort  of  plaything  of  scientists  and 


48  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

the  scientific  work  of  dilettantes.  It  has  also  been 
of  practical  use.  Our  own  Franklin  laid  out  our 
pre-Revolutionary  post-roads  with  one  attached  to 
a  comfortable  chaise  in  which  he  rode,  followed  by 
carts  bearing  mile-stones.  It  has  been  more  for¬ 
mally  used  in  the  preparation  of  our  state  maps  and 
other  important  topographical  work.  In  1657 
Evelyn  saw  Colonel  Blount’s  way-wiser,  which  was 
attached  to  a  coach,  which  “  exactly  measured  the 
miles  and  showed  them  by  an  index  as  we  went  on.” 
This  way-wiser  could  measure  up  to  one  thousand 
miles.  It  was  deemed  a  wonderful  instrument  and 
a  rare  one ;  but  to-day  along  the  roads  so  leisurely 
surveyed  by  Franklin,  nearly  every  bicycle  that 
flashes  past  his  still-standing  mile-stones  bears  a 
cyclometer  —  a  modern  and  cheap  way-wiser,  beside 
which  Colonel  Blount’s  machine  stands  in  the  same 
relation  as  a  sun-dial  to  a  Waterbury  watch. 

A  very  interesting  spot-dial  was  made  by  using  a 
lens  or  sun-glass.  In  a  garden  in  Cheshire,  at  Elm 
Hirst,  Wilmslow  (page  45),  is  a  lens-dial  on  which 
is  the  appropriate  motto:  “whatsoever  doth  make 
manifest  is  light”  (Ephesians  v.  13). 

Another  use  of  a  magnifying  glass  in  a  dial  is 
shown  in  what  are  known  as  cannon-dials  ;  these  are 
found  in  several  European  towns.  One  is  given  on 
page  49  which  was  made  for  the  Sultan  of  Morocco 
by  Messrs  F.  Barker  &  Son  of  London.  It  is  a 
beautiful  instrument,  being  made  of  fine  brass  inlaid 
with  white  metal,  and  is  an  accurate  timekeeper.  In 
these  cannon-dials  the  glass  is  so  fixed  that  at  exact 
noon  the  concentrated  rays  of  the  sun  ignites  the 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  49 


Cannon-dial  of  Sultan  of  Morocco. 


powder  in  a  touchhole  and  fires  the  cannon.  Small 
sun-dials  have  been  made  after  this  pattern. 

There  is  an  interesting  and  unusual  lens-dial  at 
Frankford  Arsenal  near  Philadelphia,  which  is 
mounted  on  the  muzzle  of  an  old  iron  cannon  set 
vertically  in  that  part  of  the  arsenal  grounds  on 
which  faces  the  government  cartridge  factory.  It  is 
shown  on  page  50.  This  ingenious  lens  dial  was 
designed  and  placed  in  its  present  position  by  the 
late  Captain  William  Prince,  Ordnance  Department 
U.  S.  Army,  in  the  year  1874.  The  mounting  is  an 
unusually  satisfactory  one,  for  not  only  is  it  in  good 
taste,  being  suited  to  the  surroundings,  but  also  of 


50  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

positive  stability,  warranting  a  perfect  spirit-level 
for  the  dial-face,  which  is  of  much  importance  for 
the  rather  delicate  contrivance  which  the  dial  dis¬ 
plays  for  marking  accurate  time.  It  is  protected 
against  special  stress  of  wear  and  weather  by  a  hinged 

iron  cap  or  cover. 

The  dial  consists  of 
a  triangular  gnomon 
mounted  on  a  circular 
plate.  The  plate  has 
Roman  numerals  for 
the  hours,  and  exact 
tables  of  corrections  to 
be  made  for  true  local 
time.  The  gnomon  has 
a  special  feature  for  in¬ 
dicating  the  corrected 
time  at  noon ;  this  is 

edge  as  to  project  an 
image  of  the  sun  on  to 
the  annular  surface  of 
an  opening  through  the 
gnomon.  On  this  annular  surface  is  inscribed  a  fig¬ 
ure  8  loop  of  two  equidistant  lines  between  which 
the  image  of  the  sun  appears  at  local  noon  in  some 
part  of  the  loop,  varying  with  the  time  of  the  year. 
Unfortunately  this  contrivance  does  not  show  in  the 
illustration.  A  similar  arrangement  may  be  found 
on  a  sun-dial  at  Monaco,  where  one  is  gravely  told 
that  it  is  “the  only  perfect  sun-dial  in  the  world.” 


by  means  of  a  lens  so 
mounted  in  its  inclined 


Cannon-dial  at  Arsenal,  Frank- 
ford,  Pennsylvania, 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  51 

There  is  something  very  suggestive  of  sentiment 
in  the  thought  that  in  a  spot-dial  you  tell  the  hour 
by  a  mark  of  light  instead  of  shadow  ;  and  such  a 
dial  needs  a  special  motto. 

Several  mottoes  are  given  in  Leadbetter’s  treatise 
called  Mechanick  Diallings  17 56.  Their  being  in  the 
same  metre  gives  them  the  appearance  of  being 
machine  poetry,  written  for  or  by  Leadbetter  for 
these  spot-dials. 

SEE  THE  LITTLE  DAY-STAR  MOVING 
LIFE  AND  TIME  ARE  WORTH  IMPROVING 
SEIZE  THE  MOMENTS  WHILE  THEY  STAY 
SEIZE  AND  USE  THEM 
LEST  YOU  LOSE  THEM 

AND  LAMENT  THE  WASTED  DAY. 

Another  reads  :  — 

SHINING  SPOT  FOREVER  SHINING 
BRIGHTEST  HOURS  HAVE  NO  ABIDING 
USE  THY  GOLDEN  MOMENTS  WELL 
LIFE  IS  WASTING 
DEATH  IS  HASTING 

DEATH  CONSIGNS  TO  HEAVEN  OR  HELL. 

In  France  a  dial  wherein  the  hour  is  shown  by  a  ray 
of  light  is  called  Cadran  a  La  Capucine.  On  such 
a  dial  in  a  Franciscan  convent  are  these  verses:  — 

Pourquoi  sur  ce  cadran  solaire 
Ne  voit-on  point  V ombre  ordinaire? 

C'est  que  consacrant  dans  ce  lieu 
Tous  notre  temps  a  louer  dieu. 

II  faut  pour  le  rnarquer  lu  plus  noble  maniere 
C'est  d’emprunter  au  del  un  rayon  de  lurniere. 


52  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

WHY  DO  YOU  NOT  SEE  THE  USUAL  SHADOW  ON  THIS  SUN-DIAL  ? 
IT  IS  BECAUSE  IN  THIS  PLACE  ALL  OUR  TIME  IS  CONSECRATED 
TO  PRAISING  GOD. 

WE  DESIRE  TO  MARK.  IT  IN  THE  NOBLEST  MANNER, 

AND  THAT  IS  BY  BORROWING  A  RAY  OF  LIGHT  FROM 
HEAVEN. 

The  shadow  of  the  gnomon  may  be  cast  upon  a 
window,  and  can  thus  be  seen  from  within  the  house. 
This  is  called  a  refractive  dialling,  or  a  window- 
dial  ;  and  in  thus  viewing  it  from  within  doors,  the 
shadow  will  appear  to  go  round  as  do  the  hands  of 
a  clock,  while  in  an  ordinary  vertical  dial  the  reverse 
motion  is  seen. 

These  are  sometimes  of  stained  glass,  and  in  Eng¬ 
land  have  been  placed  in  churches.  A  fine  one  is 
shown  on  page  53,  it  is  leaded  into  a  window  at 
Kersal  Cell,  near  Manchester,  England  ;  the  home  of 
John  Byrom,  who  wrote  “Christians  Awake!”  I 
don’t  know  why  these  nearly  all  have  a  fly  painted  on 
them  —  perhaps  as  a  remote  pun  that  the  hours  fly. 
The  window-dial  at  Lambeth  Palace,  one  at  the  pri¬ 
vate  chapel  at  Berkeley  Castle,  both  have  the  fly. 
Another  has  both  a  fly  and  a  butterfly  —  the  latter 
being  the  emblem  of  immortality. 

The  motto,  Dum  sped  as  fugio ,  is  a  favorite  motto 
for  these  window-dials:  while  thou  lookest  1 
fly.  Arthur  Young,  in  his  Six  IVeeks ’  Tours ,  tells 
of  two  window-dials  at  the  Rectory,  North-hill,  Bed¬ 
fordshire.  He  says  that  the  fly  had  the  wings 
painted  on  one  side  of  the  glass,  and  the  body  and 
legs  on  the  other,  so  to  deceive  fully  the  spectator. 
The  date  was  1664. 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials 


53 


The  ancient  Greeks  wrote  of  measuring  the  day 
by  the  course  of  a  shadow,  and  speak  of  a  six-foot 
shadow,  a  ten-foot  shadow.  It  has  been  suggested 


Window-dial  at  Kersal  Cell,  Manchester,  England. 


that  this  was  each  man’s  own  shadow  as  thrown  on 
the  ground  ;  long  in  the  morning  and  at  night,  and 
short  at  midday,  and  that  he  measured  it  with  his 
own  foot,  as  did  the  Malays  in  Madagascar. 

The  early  successors  of  the  noon-mark,  such  as 
the  water-clock  or  clepsydra,  were  known  to  many 


4 


54  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

nations  in  some  form,  though  it  is  told  that  the 
clepsydra  was  invented  2636  b.c.  by  a  Chinese 
scientist.  Duke  Chan,  who  is  alleged  to  be  the  in¬ 
ventor  of  the  compass  about  1130  b.c.,  was  the  first 
to  employ  the  clepsydra  as  a  timepiece.  Chinese 
poetry,  even  the  most  ancient,  abounds  in  graceful 
and  sentimental  allusions  to  the  clepsydra.  A 
waiting  wife  complains  of  the  leaden  foot  of  time  in 
the  form  of  verse  called  a  “stop-short”  :  — 

“  It  seems  that  the  Clepsydra 

Has  been  filled  up  with  the  Sea 
To  make  the  long,  long  nights  appear 
An  endless  time  to  me. 

“  The  incense-stick  is  burnt  to  ash. 

The  water-clock  is  stilled. 

The  midnight  breeze  blows  sharply  by. 

And  all  around  is  chilled.” 

Even  by  1851  only  one  clepsvdra  was  in  official 
use;  it  was  in  the  watch-tower  of  the  city  of  Canton; 
my  sister  saw  it  there,  still  in  use,  in  the  year  1899. 
It  consisted  of  four  copper  jars  on  a  flight  of  steps, 
the  top  of  each  reaching  to  the  bottom  of  the  next 
in  succession  ;  small  troughs  connected  them  all. 
The  largest  jar  held  about  ninety-three  pints  of 
water.  A  wooden  index  was  set  in  the  lower  jar 
and  rose  as  it  filled  with  water.  It  was  set  at  five  in 
the  morning  and  five  in  the  afternoon.  When  the 
halt-day  was  ended,  the  water  from  the  lower  jar  was 
ladled  back  into  the  upper  one  by  two  watchmen, 
who  also  beat  the  twelve  watches  of  the  day  on 
drums.  The  Chinese  do  not  number  the  hours  ; 
they  simply  name  these  twelve  divisions  and  desig- 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  55 

nate  each  with  a  sign.  This  clepsydra  is  so  rude 
a  contrivance  that  it  hardly  seems  fit  for  a  race  so 
civilized  as  the  Chinese.  These  Cantonese  folk 
would  be  far  out  in  their  time-reckoning  if  they 
depended  on  this  ancient  clepsydra  and  their  time- 
sticks,  which  are  sold  by  the  man  who  has  charge  of 
this  “  copper-jar-dropper,”  as  it  is  called.  These 
are  referred  to  in  the  second  stop-short  quoted 
above  :  “  The  incense-stick  is  burnt  to  ash.”  These 
time-sticks  were  made  of  sawdust  (usually  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  wood),  a  slight  mixture  of  glue,  rolled  into  even 
cylinders  two  feet  long,  and  divided  into  hours.  They 
consumed  without  flame,  and  burnt  up  in  half 
a  day.  They  are  like  the  time-candles  of  other 
countries,  and  share  the  interest  always  inspired  by 
every  time-keeper.  I  remember  well  the  fascination 
which  King  Alfred’s  “  candle-clocks  ”  had  for  me  in 
my  childhood ;  as  told  in  a  little  book  of  anecdotes 
of  English  kings  and  princes.  I  recall  well  making 
candle-clocks  from  common  wax  candles,  and  our 
disappointment  when  they  would  not  burn  four 
hours  precisely,  as  did  the  king’s. 

A  burning  candle  was  used  in  England  and  France 
in  many  special  cases  to  mark  a  short  extent  of  time  ; 
as  an  auction  “  by  inch  of  candle,”  wherein  the  last 
bidder  as  the  flame  expired  was  the  successful  one. 
Servants  also  were  bidden  for  and  paupers  “  boarded 
out  ”  by  inch  of  candle. 

The  ancient  clepsydra  was  sometimes  extremely 
ornamental,  the  copper  jars  being  made  in  the  shape 
of  dragons  and  other  figures,  and  the  index  was  also 
ornamented.  Another  clepsydra  was  shaped  like  a 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


bird ;  the  water  fell  from  its  beak  and  was  received 
in  a  vessel  on  a  balance.  Another  water-clock  was 
a  perforated  copper  vessel  which  was  placed  in  a  tub 
of  water  and  filled  gradually  and  sunk  every  hour. 
The  Malays  in  their  proas  use  a  similar  rude 
water-clock  made  of  a  perforated  cocoanut  shell. 
A  more  complicated  machine  which  represented  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  was  run  by  falling 
water;  it  was  a  huge  hollow  globe  perforated  on  its 
surface  so  as  to  afford,  when  lighted  from  within,  a 
representation  of  the  starry  sky  at  night. 

The  Liliwati ,  a  profound  mathematical  treatise  of 
the  twelfth  century,  was  written  by  an  Indian  astrono¬ 
mer,  who  was  “grievously  baffled”  of  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter  named  Liliwati.  It  was  predicted 
that  she  should  die  unmarried;  but  the  father  de¬ 
termined  to  avert  that  disgrace.  He  found  from 
astrologers  a  lucky  hour,  and  secured  a  bridegroom. 
But  the  hour  passed  without  being  noted  on  the 
clepsydra,  for  a  pearl  from  the  girl’s  bridal  dress  fell 
into  the  bowl  and  closed  the  opening;  and  the  bride¬ 
groom  departed.  The  father  consoled  his  daughter 
by  writing  this  wonderful  book  which  would  trans¬ 
mit  her  name  better  than  could  any  children.  It  is 
translated  into  English  and  published  by  a  Calcutta 
firm,  and  is  of  great  interest  and  research. 

Clocks  and  watches  are  much  cherished  in  China ; 
ancient  ones  of  very  antiquated  appearance  are  con¬ 
stantly  seen  in  use  ;  some  of  these  are  like  the  “  Nu- 
remburg  eggs.”  As  Chinese  gentlemen  carry  two 
watches  and  are  particular  to  have  them  harmonize, 
clock  and  watch  menders  find  constant  employment. 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  57 

For  their  watch-making  skill  the  Chinese  are  said  to 
be  indebted  to  the  teachings  of  the  Jesuit  missions. 

The  European  water-clock  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury  is  described  in  Kirchner’s  Ars  Umbrae  et  Lucis ; 
and  in  the  form  there  presented  is  almost  universally 
attributed  to  the  Jesuits.  Pewter  clepsydras  were 
made  in  considerable  numbers  in  France. 

I  am  informed  that  a  picturesque  water-clock  or 
“hour-bowl,”  shaped  like  the  Chinese  water-bowl,  is 
still  found  in  remote  parts  of  India;  picturesque  as 
absolutely  simple  things  can  be,  and  generally  are. 
A  globular  copper  bottle  or  bowl  has  a  hole  in  the 
bottom.  The  water  runs  slowly  through  the  little 
orifice  until  the  bowl  is  empty,  when  a  waiting  atten¬ 
dant  strikes  the  empty  vessel  a  resounding  blow 
with  a  hammer;  then  he  refills  it,  and  hangs  it  up  to 
drip  again.  Of  course  this  has  to  be  made  of  an 
exact  size  proper  to  measure  an  hour. 

It  is  told  that  in  some  Oriental  countries  a  stone 
is  flung  in  the  bowl  and  thus  resounding  strikes  the 
hour.  The  opening  stanza  of  Fitzgerald’s  translation 
of  Omar  Khayyam  in  the  original  edition  ran  thus  :  — 

“  Awake,  for  Morning  in  the  bowl  of  Night 
Has  flung  the  stone  that  puts  the  Stars  to  flight  ; 

And  lo  !  the  hunter  of  the  East  has  caught 
The  Sultan’s  turret  in  a  noose  of  light.” 

I  should  be  convinced  that  these  stirring  lines 
referred  to  an  emblematic  use  of  the  ancient  Oriental 
time-bowl,  save  for  one  thing  :  they  were  not  written 
by  the  old  Persian  at  all,  but  were  wholly  Fitz¬ 
gerald’s  thought  and  words ;  and  help  to  prove, 


58  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

what  we  all  know,  that  this  is  a  case  when  the  trans¬ 
lation  is  far  greater  than  the  original.  Sand-glasses, 
or  hour-glasses,  were  first  made  about  the  year 
330  a.d.  There  are  other  dials  of  the  ancients 
which  fascinate  the  antiquary,  —  wind-dials  or  anem¬ 
oscopes, — in  which  the  courses  of  the  winds  were 
marked  on  a  dial  connected  with  a  weather-vane. 
They  have  been  found  in  Pompeii  and  in  Rome. 
The  most  famous  was  known  as  The  Tower  of  the 
Winds,  an  octagonal  horologium  which  was  one  of  the 
wonders  and  beauties  of  ancient  Athens.  It  is  pic¬ 
tured  opposite  this  page.  The  bronze  Triton  which 
served  as  a  weather-vane  has  vanished,  but  eight 
sculptures  remain.  These  bold  flying  figures  repre¬ 
sent  the  winds,  and  under  each  was  once  a  sun-dial. 
There  was  also  a  water-clock.  As  the  tower  was 
forty  feet  in  height  and  twenty-seven  in  diameter,  it 
formed  a  striking  object.  Boreas,  the  North  wind, 
blew  on  a  conch-shell ;  the  South  wind  poured  rain 
from  a  water-jar ;  Zephyrus  carried  a  mantle  filled 
with  flowers. 

This  Tower  of  the  Winds  is  the  oldest  known 
construction  for  observing  the  winds,  but  a  similar 
pillar  covered  with  copper  was  at  Constantinople ; 
both  of  these  towers  had  weather-vanes.  For  a  time 
it  would  seem  that  only  important  buildings,  chiefly 
churches,  carried  vanes.  In  France  in  the  twelfth 
century  none  but  noblemen  could  have  weather- 
vanes,  and  for  a  time  no  noblemen  save  those  who 
had  planted  their  standards  on  some  rampart  at  the 
storming  of  a  town  or  citadel.  These  vanes  then 
bore  the  knight’s  arms.  On  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 


Tower  of  the  Winds,  Athens, 


4 


Noon-marks,  Spot-dials,  Window-dials  59 

ships  appear,  and  these  have  vanes  on  the  masts. 
Anemoscopes,  to  show  the  duration  of  the  wind,  and 
anemometers,  to  measure  its  force,  have  been  invented 
in  many  shapes  ;  one  resembled  a  wind-mill.  Both 
instruments  were  in  use  in  England  in  Oueen  Anne’s 
time.  They  were  fixed  in  coffee-houses  where  mer¬ 
chants  and  ship-owners  congregated,  and  where  winds 
and  weather  formed  a  constant  and  natural  topic  of 
conversation. 

It  is  probable  that  clocks  may  have  been  regarded 
with  suspicious  eye  by  the  distrustful  and  supersti¬ 
tious  pedants  of  the  day  when  they  were  first  made. 
Everything  unusual,  and  above  all  everything  clever, 
was  adjudged  to  be  akin  to  witchcraft  —  until  it  was 
proved  not  to  be.  The  very  first  naming  of  a  clock 
(so-asserted),  in  1449,  is  by  one  Dr.  Peacock,  Bishop 
of  Chichester,  and  he  says  :  — 

“In  all  Holie  Scripture  it  is  not  expressid  by  bidding 
counselling  or  witnessing  or  by  any  ensaumbling  of  per- 
soon  .  .  .  that  men  schulde  male  and  vse  clockis  forto 
knowe  the  houris  of  the  dai  and  nygt,  for  thow  in  Scrip¬ 
ture  mensionn  is  maad  of  orologis  schewing  the  houris  ot 
the  dai  by  schadow  maad  by  the  sunne  in  a  circle  ;  certes 
nevere  saue  in  late  daies  was  any  clok  tellyng  the  houris 
of  the  dai  and  nyghte  by  peise  and  by  stroke,”  etc.,  etc. 

I  suppose  there  were  old  fogies  in  that  century 
as  ever  since,  who  declared  that  the  clocks  were  a 
nuisance,  that  they  were  kept  awake  by  the  striking ; 
and  that  the  Evil  One  must  have  had  his  hand  in 
them  ;  that  they  were  an  unnecessary  expense,  being 
naturally,  in  the  beginning,  a  constant  outlay  for  re- 


6o 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


pairs  ;  that  they  would  encourage  the  young  folks 
sitting  up  late,  would  waste  candles  and  fire,  that  the 
good  old  ways  and  the  good  old  sun-dials  and  noon- 
marks  were  good  enough  for  them,  and  ought  to 
be  for  their  children.  Clock  or  Automobile  !  it 
doesn’t  matter  much  which  ;  it  is  only  a  difference 
in  dates  and  as  regarded  in  comparison  with  other 
things. 


CHAPTER  III 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  SUN-DIALS 


“  In  which  very  many  sorts  of  Dialls  are  Conteined,  by  which  be¬ 
sides  the  houres  of  all  kinds  diversely  express’d.  Amongst  which 
very  many  Dialls,  especially  the  Most  Curious  are  new  Inventions 
hitherto  Divulg’d  to  none.  All  these  Particulars  are  Shortly  yett 
Clearly  sett  forth  for  the  common  good.” 

—  Title  page  of  The  Explication  of  The  Dial/  Set  up  in  the 

King's  Garden ,  An.  i66q.  Father  Francis  Hall. 

F  DIALS  we  may  form  two 
classes,  portable  and  fixed. 
Portable  dials  have  in  this 
book  a  special  chapter  ;  as  do 
also  noon-marks  or  meridian 
lines  and  spot-dials,  ceiling- 
dials,  and  window-dials  which 
are  not  in  one  sense  separate 
objects.  Other  dials  will  be 
classed  according  to  the  divisions  of  Messrs.  Ross 
and  McGibbon,  as  formulated  in  their  volume  on 
Scottish  sun-dials  in  their  book  of  several  volumes, 
entitled  The  Castellated  and  Domestic  Architecture  of 
Scotland.  The  sun-dials  of  Scotland  are  the  finest 
in  the  world,  and  this  noble  book  is  worthy  its  sub¬ 
ject.  About  two  hundred  Scottish  sun-dials  are 
described  in  it,  and  thus  a  clear  idea  is  given  of  the 

61 


6  2 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


art  of  dial-making  of  the  sixteenth  to  the  nineteenth 
century,  as  practised  in  Scotland.  I  am  glad  to 
adopt  in  general  the  simple  and  lucid  classification 
of  sun-dials  as  arranged  by  these  two  skilled  and 
learned  architects,  and  to  use  somewhat  their  words 
in  describing  the  classes.  The  first  division  is  into 
two  great  classes,  the  attached  and  the  detached ; 
the  former  being,  as  the  name  would  imply,  displayed 
upon  the  walls  of  some  building,  and  often  of  slight 
importance  in  the  general  scheme  of  the  edifice ; 
while  the  second  class,  dials  standing  on  their  own 
special  pedestals,  are  often  of  much  monumental 
importance.  The  attached  dials  are  divided  into 
six  classes  :  — 

1.  Single-faced  dials. 

2.  Dials  with  two  faces  placed  generally  on  cor¬ 
ners  of  buildings. 

3.  Dials  with  two  or  more  faces  projected  on 
corbels. 

4.  Terminal  dials. 

5.  Dials  on  market  and  other  crosses. 

6.  Horizontal  attached  dial. 

In  the  first  class  the  dials  of  a  single  face,  of  stone, 
wood,  or  metal,  are  usually  affixed  to  the  surface  of 
a  building,  or  they  may  be  carved  or  painted  on  the 
wall  itself ;  but  sometimes,  when  the  wall  of  the  house 
does  not  face  exactly  as  desired,  these  are  canted  out 
a  bit  from  the  house  at  one  edge.  That  at  Foun- 
tainhall,  East  Lothian,  is  thus  placed  at  a  slight 
angle  that  the  dial  may  face  due  south. 

Examples  of  these  single  wall  dials  are  many 
throughout  this  book  :  they  are  a  favorite  dial  for 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


63 


church  decoration  and  use,  and  are  found  on  many 
of  the  cathedrals  and  churches  of  the  old  and  the 
new  world,  where  they  form  the  very  best  and  most 
appropriate  ornamentation  a  church  can  have  ;  even 


Grace  Church,  and  Dial,  Merchantsville,  N.  J. 

a  simple  modern  one  such  as  this 
on  Grace  Church,  Merchants¬ 
ville,  New  Jersey,  adds  much 
to  the  beauty  of  a  church  edifice. 
A  vertical  dial  is,  in  one  respect, 
much  better  fitted  for  a  public 
building  than  a  horizontal  dial, 
for  the  latter  through  careless  or  mischievous  hand¬ 
ling  often  becomes  so  shaken  as  to  be  useless  as  a 
timekeeper.  A  fine  horizontal  dial,  with  an  unusual 
and  beautiful  gnomon,  shaped  like  an  angel’s  wing, 


6\  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

was  set  but  a  few  years  ago  as  a  memorial  of  a  son 
to  his  mother,  in  the  churchyard  of  All  Saints’ 
Church,  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  Even  this 
firmly  set  and  carefully  made  bronze  dial-face  has 
been  pulled  and  twisted  by  boyish  visitors  to  the 
racking  of  the  gnomon.  A  vertical  wall-dial  would 
have  been  out  of  mischief. 

On  those  interesting  old  buildings  —  moot-halls 
—  are  found  some  of  the  most  ancient  dials.  A 
moot-hall  was  a  building  with  a  room  for  public 
debate  or  a  court,  a  town-hall.  In  early  English 
history  we  find  that  a  moot  or  meeting  was  con¬ 
stantly  being  held,  and  a  court  formed  which  had 
special  powers.  A  town-moot  was  a  meeting  of  the 
town  ;  there  was  also  the  hundred-moot,  a  meeting 
of  the  hundred;  and  a  folk-moot,  a  muster  of  all 
the  people  far  and  wide.  The  form  of  holding  the 
court  was  the  same  in  all  ;  the  priests  proclaimed 
silence,  appointed  speakers  on  either  side  of  the 
controversy  who  told  their  tales,  while  groups  of 
freemen  assented  or  dissented,  shaking  their  spears 
and  clanking  their  shields  ;  sometimes  witnesses  were 
called;  and  finally  everything  was  positively  settled 
by  shouts  of  Aye  and  Nay.  Moot-halls  still  stand 
in  ancient  and  stagnant  towns  ;  one  in  Alderburgh 
is  shown  on  page  io  —  a  lonely  building  erected  about 
the  year  1 500.  The  dial  is  not  so  old,  I  think,  for  the 
motto,  Floras  non  numero  nisi  serenas ,  seems  hardly 
suited  to  a  moot-hall  of  that  year.  It  has  a  second 
motto  also,  Pereunt  et  imputantur. 

A  favorite  position  for  vertical  church-dials  is 
over  a  door.  The  fine  dial  shown  facing  this  page 


Sun-dial  over  Porch  of  Eyam  Church 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


65 


is  over  the  south  porch  of  the  church  at  Eyam, 
Derbyshire.  It  has  upon  it  the  lines  of  the  Tropic 
of  Capricorn,  the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  and  the  Equi¬ 
noctial  plainly  marked  and  lettered  ;  also  the  names 
of  various  cities  and  places, —  Mexico,  Panama, 
Quebec,  Bermuda,  London,  Rome,  Constantinople, 
Mecca,  Calcutta,  and  Surat,  showing  their  difference 
of  time;  also  the  mottoes  Induce  Animum  Sapientem 
—  take  to  thyself  a  wise  word;  and  Ut  Umbra 
sic  Vita;  the  date  177 5,  and  the  names,  Wm.  Lee, 
Thomas  Eraggatt,  Church  Wardens.  Surrounded 
by  ancient  elms  and  sycamores  stands  this  venerable 
church,  celebrated  both  for  the  singular  Runic  cross 
in  its  yard,  and  for  the  pathetic  story  of  its  heroic 
rector,  Mompesson.  In  July,  1665,  the  plague 
was  brought  to  Eyam  in  a  box  of  tailor’s  cloths  and 
patterns.  It  spread  immediately  and  every  house 
soon  had  its  victims.  Mompesson  inspired  the 
villagers  with  a  wonderful  spirit  of  self-abnegation, 
so  that  thev  cut  themselves  off  from  the  rest  of  the 

J 

world,  in  order  to  stop  the  spread  of  the  pestilence. 
Not  a  soul  left  the  place,  and  supplies  were  brought 
in  from  outposts.  Pest-houses  were  established,  but 
even  winter  did  not  subdue  the  disease;  and  in  the 
spring  Mompesson,  knowing  well  the  danger  of  any 
assembling  within  the  church,  preached  to  his  heroic 
people  from  a  projecting  rock  in  the  cleft  in  the 
dale,  —  a  rock  still  known  as  “  The  Pulpit.”  Out  ot 
a  village  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants  but 
ninety  survived.  His  own  wife  died  in  August,  and 
is  buried  in  the  churchyard.  Many  others  were 
buried  in  the  fields,  and  one  little  enclosure  is  showm 


66  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

which  holds  seven  of  one  family,  who  died  in  seven 
days. 

A  very  interesting  and  ancient  sun-dial  is  on 
the  south  porch  of  Lewannick  Church,  and  with  the 
Cresset  stone  standing  on  the  left  of  the  porch,  is 
deemed  somewhat  of  a  curiosity.  This  church  was 


Sun-dial  on  Chimney,  Petersfield. 


about  five  miles  from  Lanceston,  but  has  just  been 
destroyed  by  fire. 

Sun-dials  were  placed  on  many  symbolical  or  sig¬ 
nificant  structures.  Among  these  is  the  curious  old 
triangular  Lodge  at  Rushton,  Northamptonshire, 
a  monument  of  the  deep  Trinitarian  belief  of  Sir 
Thomas  Tresham,  a  skilled  architect  of  Elizabeth’s 
day.  Its  walls  are  covered  with  pious  emblems  and 
inscriptions.  This  lodge  has  three  walls,  three  gables 
on  each  wall.  On  the  central  gable  of  each  is  a 
sun-dial;  on  the  first  is  the  word  Respicite ;  on  the 


Cresset  Stone  and  Dial  on  Lewannick  Church.  Lanceston,  England, 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


67 


second,  Non  Mihi ;  on  the  third,  Sole  Labor avi,  1593. 

“  MARK  YE,  NOT  FOR  MYSELF  ALONE  HAVE  I  TOILED.” 

The  trefoil  also  is  expressive. 

An  appropriate  and  well-designed  modern  setting 
for  vertical  dials  upon  dwelling-houses,  and  one  I 
always  like  if  not  placed  too  high,  is  upon  an  external 
chimney.  On  page  66  is  given  a  dial  at  Petersfield 
thus  placed,  and  it  may  plainly  be  seen  how  well  it 
suits  its  position. 

On  this  page  is  shown  the  vertical  sun-dial  at 
Oak  Woods  in  Peace  Dale,  Rhode  Island,  once  the 
home  of  the  old  phi¬ 
losopher,  Rowland  G. 

Hazard,  and  now  the 
home  of  his  grandchil¬ 
dren.  Another  fine  ver¬ 
tical  dial,  upon  page  68, 
was  set  in  1891  on  the 
old  stone  wall  which 
marked  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  grounds 
of  the  Santa  Barbara 
Mission,  California,  in 

a  place  where  many  v/all-dial  at  Oak  Woods,  Peace 
passers-by  see  and  use  it.  Dale.  Rhode  Island;  residence  of 
The  inscription  reads  : -  Rowland  G.  Hazard,  Esq. 

w  The  dial  was  made,  inscribed,  and  set  by  Rowland 
Hazard  of  Peace  Dale,  Rhode  Island,  in  a  part  of  the  Sta. 
Barbara  Mission  Wall,  built  1  786,  standing  on  his  land.” 

The  words  Fidem  docet  of  the  noble  motto  are 
illumined  with  sunlight,  as  if  prophetic. 


68  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Lux  del  vita:  vla?n  monstrat 
Sed  umbra  horam  atque  jidem  docet. 

THE  LIGHT  OF  GOD  SHOWETH  THE  WAY  OF  LIFE, 

BUT  THE  SHADOW  BOTH  TELLETH  THE  HOUR  AND  TEACH- 
ETH  THE  FAITH. 

The  picture  speaks  to  me  many  words  besides 
those  of  its  motto.  It  makes  me  think  of  the 
aged  philosopher,  Rowland  G.  Hazard,  the  most 


Sun-dial  at  Santa  Barbara  Mission,  California. 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


6cj 


interesting  person  I  ever  knew,  the  friend  of  other 
philosophers,  such  as  John  Stuart  Mill,  and  the 
author  of  such  profound  books  as  Man  a  Creative 
First  Cause,  Freedom  of  Mind  in  Willing;  and  I  think 
of  his  sturdy  race,  some  of  whom  were  giants  in  the 
land  ;  I  recall  the  noble  life  of  his  son,  who  set  up 
the  dial ;  and  I  think  of  the  philosopher’s  grand¬ 
daughter,  the  president  of  Wellesley  College,  and 
her  great  work.  Then  I  look  at  the  picture,  and  the 
tropical  foliage  of  the  Cactus  plant  symbolizes  to  me 
folk  of  vastly  different  type  —  the  native  Mexicans 
and  Californians,  halting  in  the  welcome  shadow  of 
the  old  wall,  and  reading  with  ease  the  Latin  verses 
in  their  softened  Spanish  accent.  I  see  the  many 
Chinese  wanderers  to  that  shore,  chattering  the  time 
of  the  day — for  the  sun’s  shadow  speaks  in  their 
tongue  as  well  as  in  Latin.  I  see  Father  Junipero  and 
his  barefooted  and  cowled  Franciscan  friars  patiently 
teaching  their  trying  converts  —  the  Indians.  I  see 
behind  the  wall  the  Mission  garden  with  its  wells 
and  cisterns,  its  dense  Pepper  trees,  its  Daturas  and 
Roses;  and  Latin  and  Spanish,  Asiatic,  Indian,  and 
Yankee  races  all  blend  in  the  spirit  of  this  useful, 
beautiful  sun-dial. 

On  page  70  is  given  an  historical  example  of  the 
second  class,  dials  with  two  faces,  set  at  the  corner 
of  houses.  These  are  on  the  house  in  Edinburgh 
known  as  John  Knox’s  house.  On  the  corner  ot 
the  house  is  carved  a  figure  of  the  prophet  Moses, 
kneeling  and  pointing  with  his  right  hand  to  a  figure 
overhead,  —  namely,  the  sun  in  glory,  on  which  is 
carved  the  name  of  God  in  three  tongues.  Beneath 


70  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

this  figure  were  two  sun-dials  supported  on  iron 
brackets,  which  represented  flames  of  fire.  A  good 


John  Knox’s  House,  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 


example  of  these  corner  dials  is  shown  facing  page 
72,  a  view  of  Mr.  Thursby’s  house  at  Lower  Harle- 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


71 


stone,  Northamptonshire.  This  is  a  charming  Eng¬ 
lish  home  picture;  the  cheerful  house,  the  creeping 
vines  and  flowers,  the  tame  pea-hen,  and  the  sun¬ 
dials, —  why,  even  the  printed  words  peacocks  and 
sun-dials  give  a  picture  of  English  country  life!  The 
house  is  about  a  hundred  years  old,  and  in  1891  the 
dials  were  nearly  obliterated  and  the  gnomons  gone, 
but  the  dials  have  now  been  restored.  The  south¬ 
east  dial  is  inscribed,  the  hour  is  at  hand;  the 
southwest,  WATCH  AND  PRAY. 

I  have  never  seen  in  America  a  vertical  dial  of 
the  third  class,  —  namely,  on  a  corbel,  though  the 
latter  forms  a  most  effective  piece  of  architectural 
decoration  as  well  as  a  useful  one. 

On  Heriot’s  hospital  in  Edinburgh  are  eleven 
corbel  dials,  the  finest  attached  dials  of  this  type 
in  Scotland  ;  they  are  supported  on  carved  brackets. 
Some  of  these  brackets  are  cupids’  heads  with  wings, 
others  demons’  heads  and  wings,  one  an  elephant’s 
head. 

Terminal  dials,  the  fourth  class,  form  the  apex  of 
a  gable,  buttress,  or  some  other  portion  of  an  edifice. 
They  were  a  favorite  decoration  in  Scotland ;  thus 
the  church  at  Costorphine,  Midlothian,  has  seven  of 
these  dials  forming  the  finials  of  buttresses.  On  the 
eaves  of  gables,  even  of  humble  cottages,  they  were 
much  used,  and  over  the  lichgates  of  churches  formed 
a  most  appropriate  finial. 

The  fifth-class  dials  on  market  and  other  crosses 
might  well  have  been  transferred  to  the  class  of 
detached  dials,  since  the  cross  is  often  scarce  more 
than  a  pillar  to  hold  the  dial.  Many  of  the  early 


72 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


market  crosses  and  churchyard  crosses  of  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century  bore  sun-dials,  and  the  earliest  Eng¬ 
lish  sun-dial  is  of  this  type.  These  crosses  varied 
from  the  simple  village  cross  bearing  a  block  with 
dials  to  the  superbly  ornamental  market  crosses 
of  many  Scotch  and  English  towns,  and  many 
good  examples  will  be  shown  in  the  pages  of  this 
book. 

Near  the  Scotch  border,  in  Cumberland,  stands 
the  little  town  of  Bewcastle.  It  is  in  what  has  been 
ever  a  rather  wild  and  desolate  district,  though  it  is 
supposed  to  have  been  a  Roman  station  during  the 
building  of  the  famous  wall.  A  view  of  the  church¬ 
yard  is  given  facing  page  32.  I  think  it  the  loneliest 
scene  that  I  ever  beheld — in  which  there  are  ample 
signs  of  both  life  and  death.  In  it  may  be  seen 
what  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  ancient  monu¬ 
ments  in  Great  Britain  ;  it  affords  the  earliest  Eng¬ 
lish  sepulchral  inscription,  the  earliest  piece  of 
English  literature,  and  of  special  note  to  us,  the 
earliest  English  sun-dial. 

It  is  a  beautiful  monument,  too,  a  monolith  four¬ 
teen  and  a  half  feet  high,  originally  the  shaft  of  a 
fine  cross  which  added  two  and  a  half  feet  to  its 
height.  The  cross  blew  down  about  three  hundred 
years  ago,  and  was  sent  to  a  collector  of  antiquities, 
Lord  William  H  oward,  for  preservation  ;  but  its 
whereabouts  is  now  unknown.  The  carvings  on 
this  shaft  are  very  fine  and  pleasing,  and,  curious 
indeed,  are  in  close  relation  to  Byzantine  art.  It 
bears  many  runes,  and  on  the  south  face  is  the  sun¬ 
dial  surrounded  by  carved  bands  and  leaves,  in  such 


Corner-dials  at  Lower  Harleston,  Northamptonshire,  England. 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


73 


a  manner  that  the  dial  is  proved  part  of  the  origi¬ 
nal  design,  not  a  later  addition.  The  date  of  this 
sun-dial  is  670  a.d.,  for  the  inscriptions  have  been 
deciphered  and  translated  thus  by  the  Bishop  of 
Bristol  :  — 

“This  thin  sign  of  victory  Hwaetred  Wothgar  Olwfwolthu 
set  up  after  Alchfrith  once  King  and  son  of  Oswy.  Pray 
for  the  high  sin  of  his  soul.” 

The  date  is  given  as  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of 
King  Ecgfrith.  Other  names  appear  on  the  shaft, 
—  names  of  princes  who  served  the  cause  of  English 
Christianity  in  the  seventh  century.  Oswy  and 
Alchfrith  were  also  Christians. 

The  sun-dial,  which  is  within  a  third  of  the  top 
of  the  shaft,  is  divided  into  four  spaces  —  according 
to  the  octaval  system  of  time  measurement  of  the 
Angles.  These  four  spaces  are  divided  each  into 
three  spaces,  making  thus  the  twelve  divisions  of 
the  day  of  the  Romans.  The  gnomon  was  doubt¬ 
less  set  horizontally,  and  could  not  have  afforded  a 
very  acurate  time-keeping,  save  for  the  noon-hour. 

The  loneliness  of  Bewcastle  has  aided  in  the  pres¬ 
ervation  of  this  beautiful  monument,  and  many 
simple  ancient  customs  also  lingered  long.  Among 
them  was  the  whittle-gate ,  part  of  the  payment  of 
both  schoolmaster  and  parson,  and  by  which  they 
found  a  home.  The  master  lived  in  turn  for  two  or 
three  weeks  at  a  time  at  the  home  of  each  of  his 
scholars.  As  the  houses  were  often  scantily  fur¬ 
nished,  he  carried  his  own  knife  or  whittle  for  table 
use.  Sometimes  the  parish  gave  the  parson  his 


74  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

whittle.  We  brought  to  America  the  custom  of 
whittle-gate;  it  has  lingered  to  the  present  day  in 
remote  country  communities  where  the  schoolmaster 
“  boards  around  ”  ;  and  we  brought  the  word  whittle , 
too,  and  applied  it  in  such  fashion  that  it  serves 
to  indicate  a  significant  characteristic  of  native  New 
Englanders. 

Opposite  this  page  is  shown  one  of  the  three 
ancient  dials  of  this  class  which  are  standing  at 
Elmley,  Worcestershire.  One  is  at  the  meeting  of 
two  roads,  a  cubical  dial  on  the  shaft  of  an  old  cross. 
The  second  is  in  the  churchyard  at  Elmley  Castle; 
it  is  a  cube  with  many  hollowed-out  dials,  in  some  of 
which  the  gnomons  remain.  The  third,  here  shown, 
is  erected  on  the  base  of  an  old  cross;  the  founda¬ 
tion  is  of  several  courses  of  masonry  rising  nearly 
three  feet,  and  above  them  a  stone  so  much  like 
dial  number  two  that  antiquaries  believe  they  origi¬ 
nally  formed  a  single  dial.  Besides  the  singular 
scooped-out  depressions,  this  has  also  a  shield  bear¬ 
ing  the  arms  of  Savage,  borne  by  the  lord  of  the 
manor,  which  was  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  This 
ancient  block  is  surmounted  by  another,  more 
modern,  bearing  four  vertical  dials. 

The  sixth  class,  horizontal  attached  dials,  such  as 
those  fastened  on  window-sills  or  the  parapets  of 
bridges,  are  comparatively  few  in  number  and  of 
no  great  distinction.  I  have  several,  captured  from 
old  window-ledges  in  New  England. 

Detached  dials  are  divided  into  four  classes  :  — 

1.  Obelisk-shaped  dials.  3.  Facet-headed  dials. 

2.  Lectern-shaped  dials.  4.  Horizontal  dials. 


Antique  Sun-dial  in  Churchyard,  Elmley  Castle,  Worcestershire 

England. 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


75 


Naturally  an  exact  line  cannot  be  drawn  between 
these  to  separate  wholly  each  class  ;  for  a  lectern¬ 
headed  dial  may  have  a  pedestal  somewhat  obelisk¬ 
shaped,  and  the  horizontal  dial  often  runs  into  the 
other  shapes;  but  the  classification  is  as  explicit  as 
is  possible. 

The  term  obelisk-shaped  is  perhaps  as  good  a 
descriptive  word  for  the  first  class  of  dials  as  anv 
single  word  could  be;  though  the  word  obelisk 
conveys  in  general  the  thought  of  a  plain  shaft  like 
the  Egyptian  obelisks.  Obelisk-shape  in  a  sun-dial, 
however,  indicates  a  square  shaft,  supporting  a  bulg¬ 
ing  capital,  and  that  surmounted  by  a  tapering 
finial.  Let  me  illustrate  by  referring  to  page  6  as 
an  example;  this  is  the  sun-dial  at  Kelburne  House, 
Ayrshire,  and  has  all  three  characteristics.  The 
shaft  and  the  capital  are  divided  into  compartments 
which  are  hollowed  out  with  “sinkings,”  which  may 
be  triangular,  star-shaped,  club-shaped,  shell-shaped, 
shield-shaped,  cross-shaped,  liver-shaped,  lozenge¬ 
shaped,  circular,  heart-shaped,  and  other  geometrical 
figures.  In  these  the  sharp  edge  of  the  figure  casts 
a  shadow  on  the  sunken  cups  ;  or  a  metal  gnomon 
might  be  set  thereon.  Sometimes  the  hour  lines 
are  finely  delineated.  The  bulging  capital  should 
be  octagonal  and  have  dial-faces  on  each  of  the  eight 
sides,  which  dials  might  be  sunken  ;  and  it  could 
have  also  reclining  and  proclining  dials  (which 
should  not  be  sunken),  as  has  this  one  ot  Kelburne 
House.  It  will  be  noted  that  where  the  square 
shaft  meets  the  octagonal  pillar  the  triangular  pieces 
are  cut  out,  giving  effective  shadows  and  odd  out- 


7 6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


lines.  The  tapering  finial  may  have  dial-faces  but 
never  sunken  ones.  The  north  side  of  the  dial  was 
usually  left  free  for  dates,  initials,  and  inscriptions. 
T  his  Kelburne  dial  is  surmounted  by  a  wrought-iron 
vane  which  encloses  the  monogram  of  the  Earl  of 
Glasgow  and  his  wife;  and  it  is  dated  1707.  The 
entire  height  of  this  is  eight  feet  six  and  one-half 
inches  without  the  steps  at  the  base.  These  obelisk¬ 
shaped  dials  are  usually  set  upon  a  platform  err 
pedestal  of  steps,  often  of  a  circular  or  octagonal 
form  ;  but  a  similar  dial  at  Kelburne  House  is  set  in 
a  basin  of  water,  like  a  fountain  basin  —  an  unusual 
and  inappropriate  placing. 

It  will  be  known  that  when  these  dials  were  made 
of  soft  sandstone,  as  were  so  many  in  Scotland  and 
England,  the  various  shaped  sinkings  would  quickly 
be  worn  so  that  they  were  of  slight  value  as  time¬ 
keepers,  and  the  great  number  of  dial-faces  was 
confusing;  so  I  ever  regard  the  obelisk-shaped  dial 
as  a  thing  of  beauty  and  dignity  rather  than  as  a 
precise  timekeeper.  Modern  dials  for  fine  gardens 
have  often  been  made  partly  in  the  obelisk-shape  ; 
there  is  a  beautiful  one  of  these  at  Linburn  H  ouse, 
which  is  shown  on  a  later  page. 

The  descriptive  name  of  lectern-dial  has  been 
given  to  a  sun-dial  set  upon  a  shaft  which  was  never 
cut  into  dial-faces,  but  had  a  dial-head  cut  in  a 
peculiar  shape,  so  it  resembled  a  music-stand  or 
lectern.  They  were  comparatively  common  in 
England  and  Scotland,  though  they  were  in  gen¬ 
eral  very  complicated  in  their  cutting,  having  sev¬ 
eral  dial-faces,  and  being  hollowed  out,  bevelled,  and 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


77 


shaped  in  ways  exceedingly  difficult  to  describe  and 
often  most  varied  in  each  sun-dial.  As  an  attempt 
at  description,  it  may  be  said  that  a  block  of  stone 
rests  on  the  top  of  the  standard  somewhat  as  a 
book  rests  on  a  lectern  ;  this 
block  (the  dial-stone)  is  cut 
into  a  shape  somewhat  resem¬ 
bling  a  Greek  cross  with  semi¬ 
circular  depressions  carved 
out  of  the  four  arms  of  the 
cross  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave 
eight  points  or  horns.  Let 
this  queerly  cut  cross  be  set 
well  up  on  the  face 
of  the  lectern  ;  and 
have  the  circular  de¬ 
pression  at  the  top 
edge  of  the  cross 
continued  down  the 
sloping  back  of  the 
dial  in  a  semicylin- 
drical,  trough¬ 
shaped  opening. 

The  shape  is  so  sin¬ 
gular,  so  compli¬ 
cated,  and,  to  a 

careless  observer,  SO  Lectern-headed  Dial  at  Gray  House,  near 

Dundee,  Scotland. 

unnecessarily  com¬ 
plex  and  unnatural,  that  many  speculations  have 
arisen  as  to  the  reason  for  these  forms.  They  were 
called  Masonic  dials  and  may  have  had  some  Ma¬ 
sonic  significance.  An  ingenious  suggestion  of  ex- 


78  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of*  Yesterday 

planation  is  given  through  an  article  in  the  Magazine 
of  Art ,  November,  1 891,  entitled  “The  Mystery  of 
Holbein’s  Ambassadors.”  In  this  picture,  part  of 
which  is  reproduced  opposite  this  page,  is  a  table  upon 
which  are  displayed  several  sun-dials  and  curious 
astronomical  instruments.  One  of  the  last-named 
was  “  The  Torquetum  of  Apian,”  by  means  of  which 
the  position  of  the  sun,  moon,  or  stars  could  be 
indicated  at  any  hour.  It  is  shaped  like  these  lec¬ 
tern-dials  and  may  have  afforded  the  model  for  them. 
Though  this  form  seems  so  forced  and  so  contorted 
for  its  purpose  as  a  dial,  it  was  nevertheless  used 
for  many  costly  dials,  which  well  illustrate  the  mag¬ 
nificent  ideas  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  regard  to 
the  architectural  accessories  and  furnishings  of  gar¬ 
dens,  pleasure  grounds,  and  parks  of  that  date.  The 
superb  dials  of  Dundas  Castle,  of  Neidpath  Castle, 
of  Mid  Calder  House,  of  Ladyland’s  House,  show 
types  of  these  costly  dials  ;  and  the  most  elaborate 
of  all  is  at  Woodhouselee,  Midlothian,  carved  ex¬ 
quisitely  in  the  hollows  of  the  shaft  with  the  Thistle 
and  the  Rose.  On  page  77  is  given  a  drawing  of 
the  sun-dial  at  Gray  House,  near  Dundee.  In  this 
the  ancient  lectern-head  has  been  set  on  modern 
steps. 

In  a  general  way  the  cross-dials  seen  in  church¬ 
yards  and  graveyards  may  be  deemed  of  the  class 
of  lectern-dials ;  though  they  bear  slight  resem¬ 
blance  to  the  elaborate  Scotch  dials. 

The  third  class,  that  of  facet-headed  dials,  may  be 
described  as  consisting  of  a  pedestal,  baluster-shaped, 
bearing  a  spherical-shaped  stone  cut  in  a  variety  of 


Instruments  and  Figure  from  Holbein’s  Ambassadors. 


79 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 

facets  on  which  sun-dials  are  formed,  cup-shaped, 
heart-shaped,  or  flat.  I  his  sphere  or  head  is  usually 
attached  to  the  pedestal  by  a  small  pivot  or  bar. 


Queen  Mary's  Dial.  Holyrood  Castle. 


1  his  shape  perhaps  affords  to  us  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  of  ancient  and  modern  dials.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  of  all  facet-headed  dials,  and  one 
from  which  many  others  have  been  shaped,  is  called 


80  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Queen  Mary’s  Dial  at  Holyrood  Castle,  Scot¬ 
land,  see  page  79.  It  is  said  to  have  been  the 
gift  of  Charles  I  to  his  Queen  Henrietta  Maria, 
and  was  a  costly  token  ;  for  in  the  accounts  of  the 
Master  of  Works  it  is  shown  that  the  sum  of  ^408, 
15^.  6 d.  was  paid  to  the  mason  and  his  servants  for 
“  hewing  of  the  diyell,”  and  £ 66  13J.  $d.  to  a 
limner  for  gilding  and  engraving  the  dial.  The 
dial  stands  with  its  base  ten  feet  three  inches  high, 
and  after  lying  for  a  long  time  in  an  apparently 
ruined  condition,  was  repaired  and  reset  by  order  of 
Queen  Victoria.  The  facets  of  the  dial-head  have 
sinkings  of  many  shapes,  —  heart-shaped,  cup-shaped, 
triangular,  square,  —  and  the  gnomons  have  many 
forms,  one  a  grotesque  face  profile,  another  a  Thistle. 
The  dial  also  bears  the  Royal  Arms  and  the  initials 
of  Charles  and  his  queen.  It  has  been  copied,  with 
some  alterations  and  adaptations,  in  many  garden 
dials,  several  of  which  are  shown  in  these  pages. 

A  superb  dial  of  the  facet-headed  type  is  at 
Mount  Melville,  Fifeshire.  It  rivals  the  wonderful 
dial  at  Glamis  Castle.  A  beautiful  photograph  of  it 
has  been  given  me  by  Miss  Balfour-Melville,  and  is 
shown  in  this  book.  There  are  in  all  seventy  dials 
on  this  grand  structure,  twenty-five  of  which  are  on 
the  facet-head.  This  head  is  about  eighteen  inches 
in  diameter,  set  without  a  pivot  on  a  block  beneath 
which  is  eleven  inches  square  ;  this  has  three  cup¬ 
shaped  dials.  On  the  shaft  are  rows  of  dials:  plain 
dials,  oblong-shaped  sunken  dials,  heart-shaped  dials, 
cup-hollows,  and  cylinder-shaped  hollows. 

A  block  of  stone  in  the  form  known  as  an  icosa- 


Sun-dial  at  Mount  Melville,  Scotland. 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


8 1 


hedron,  having  twenty  faces,  each  being  an  equilateral 
triangle,  is  sometimes  seen  with  a  dial  on  each  face. 
This  facet-headed  block  is  set  on  a  pillar  and  forms 
a  wonderful  ornament  for  the  garden. 

H  orizontal  dials  are  subdivided  into  two  classes, 
but  I  deem  such  division  superfluous.  It  is  said  bv 
M  essrs.  McGibbon  and  Ross  that  horizontal  dials 
on  pedestals  are  so  numerous  in  Scotland  that  a 
list  of  them  would  include  the  name  of  every 
parish  in  Scotland  ;  they  must  number  hundreds. 
As  no  two  are  precisely  alike,  they  would  form  a 
fine  series  of  examples.  I  have  studied  the  pedestals 
with  great  interest,  since  nearly  all  the  garden-dials 
set  up  in  America  are  of  this  class. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  forms  of  dials  of  which 
I  have  not  spoken,  among  them  the  earliest  dials 
in  England  ;  on  old  churches  mysterious  little  rayed 
circles  like  the  face  of  a  sun-dial  appear,  which 
are  often  found  in  most  out-of-the-way  places,  high 
up  on  the  wall  or  underneath  shelves.  These  are 
commonly  called  Saxon  dials,  and  they  strongly  resem¬ 
ble  “  sun-circles  ”  found  on  pre-historic  remains,  and 
are  held  by  many  scientists  to  be  either  sun-circles 
or  luck-circles.  There  is  usually  a  little  hole  in  the 
centre  of  the  rays,  but  of  too  shallow  incision  to  hold 
a  gnomon.  The  rays  vary  in  number;  some  dials 
had  sixteen.  At  Aldborough  is  a  beautiful  dial 
carved  with  the  swastika  or  fylfot,  resembling  the 
sun-wheels  of  Danish  relics  of  the  Bronze  Age. 

It  is  said  that  there  is  hardly  an  unrestored  church 
in  Warwickshire,  Northamptonshire,  or  Leicester¬ 
shire  but  has  these  circles  or  imitation  dials  on  its 


82 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

walls.  On  this  page  is  given  one  of  these  rayed 
circles,  which  is  on  the  porch  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  Northampton.  Its  lines  are  most 
distinct.  In  an  interesting  paper  called  Squints 
and  Dials,  Sir  Henry  Dryden  says  that  those 


Saxon  Dial  on  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  Northampton. 


“  Saxon  dials  ”  which  were  cut  only  breast  high  or 
where  the  central  hole  could  not  have  held  a  gnomon, 
or  where  the  rays  are  irregular,  must  be  regarded 
with  suspicion.  I  may  define  a  squint  for  two  rea¬ 
sons  :  first,  for  the  information  of  American  readers 
to  whom  the  term  is  generally  unfamiliar  ;  and  sec¬ 
ond,  because  they  have  so  often  been  carefully 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


83 


pointed  out  to  travellers  in  England  as  sun-dials. 
A  squint  is  an  oblique  opening  through  the  wall 
of  an  old  church,  cut  in  such  a  manner  and  for  the 
express  purpose  of  permitting  a  person  in  a  transept 


Model  of  Proclining  Dial.  Jeypore. 


or  side  aisle  to  see  the  high  altar  at  the  time  of  the 
elevation  of  the  host.  The  ordinary  position  of  a 
squint  is  on  either  side  of  the  chancel  arch  ;  but 
wherever  they  are,  they  always  open  to  give  a  view 
of  the  altar.  They  are  in  general  about  three  feet 
high  and  two  feet  wide,  but  at  Minster  Lovell, 


84  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Oxfordshire,  they  form  narrow  arches  twelve  feet  in 
height.  The  word  hagioscope  has  also  been  given 
them,  also  squinch  —  which  is  incorrect. 

Vitruvius  Pollio  Marcus,  a  famous  Roman  archi¬ 
tect  and  engineer  under  Caesar  and  Augustus,  wrote 
a  treatise  on  architecture, — the  only  surviving  Roman 
treatise  on  the  subject.  In  it  he  names  with  very 
meagre  and  sapless  description  thirteen  different 
kinds  of  sun-dials  and  gives  the  names  of  their 
inventors.  During  the  careful  archaeological  excava¬ 
tions  of  the  past  century  many  of  these  types  have 
been  found.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  explain  or 
describe  the  thirteen  types  nor  give  illustrations  of 
the  hemispherum  and  hemicycle  which  were  the 
earliest  forms.  These  are  never  made  to-day  save 
in  what  our  grandfathers  would  term  “  a  rare  conceit.” 
In  the  Leyden  Museum,  the  British  Museum,  the 
Louvre,  examples  may  be  studied.  They  are  in 
general  imperfect  and  very  simple  in  original  shape 
and  decoration,  except  in  one  or  two  cases. 

Those  who  wish  to  learn  of  the  antique  dials  of 
Greece  and  Rome  and  of  other  rare  forms  of  English 
and  Continental  dials  should  read  Mrs.  Gatty’s 
Book  of  Sun-dials ,  or  its  enlargment  by  Mrs.  Eden. 
“H  ow  I  love  those  large  still  books,”  said  Tenny¬ 
son  of  one  of  Richardson’s  novels.  Such  a  book  is 
Mrs.  Gatty’s  Book  of  Sun-dials.  Like  the  sun-dial 
itsell  it  seems  associated  with  refined  and  serene 
things :  the  ivy-grown  wall  of  the  village  church, 
the  solemn  graveyard,  the  ancient  market  square, 
the  Rose  walk,  and  Yew  hedge,  all  of  a  day  removed 
from  present  bustle  and  rush. 


Classification  of  Sun-dials 


85 


The  most  celebrated  antique  dials  are  those  on 
the  Tower  of  the  Winds,  referred  to  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  chapter.  It  is  impossible  to  give  a  date  to  these 
dials,  but  archaeologists  suggest  that  they  are  what  are 
called  quiver-dials  by  Vitruvius,  wherein  the  lines, 
diverging  from  a  common  centre,  resemble  some¬ 
what  a  sheaf  of  arrows  tossed  from  a  quiver.  A 


Quiver-dial  of  Phaidros. 


dial  of  similar  type  is  depicted  here,  the  fine  marble 
dial  of  Phaidros,  which  was  brought  from  Athens  by 
Lord  Elgin,  and  is  now  in  the  Inscription  Room  in 
the  British  Museum.  It  bears  a  Greek  inscription 
meaning,  “  Phaidros,  son  of  Zoilos,  a  Paenian,  made 
this.”  Phaidros  was  an  architect  who  lived  in  the 
second  or  third  century  a.d. 

Varied  and  curious  in  shape  are  the  dials  of  Ori¬ 
ental  lands.  Sun-dials  are  placed  on  all  the  princi¬ 
pal  mosques  in  Constantinople.  On  many  ot  them, 


86 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Model  of  Reclining  Dial,  Jeypore. 

in  addition  to  the  lines  necessary  to  indicate  the 
course  of  the  sun,  there  is  a  line  drawn  pointing  to 
Mecca,  whither  the  faces  of  the  faithful  must  be 
turned  while  praying. 

The  superb  dials  of  Delhi  and  Jeypore,  con¬ 
structed  in  1724  by  Rajah  Jey  Singh,  are  beyond 
description.  They  were  built  of  vast  size,  of  solid 
masonry  and  marble.  The  length  of  the  hypothe- 
nuse  of  the  gnomon  was  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
feet.  Photographs  of  the  models  of  the  sun-dials 
in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  South  Kensing¬ 
ton,  have  been  taken  specially  for  this  book. 


V. 


Model  of  Sun-dial  at  Jeypore,  India. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  SUN-DIALS 


“  Here  have  wee  then  the  Art  of  Numbring  time  by  shadowes 
after  the  most  Methodicall  Compendious  and  Perspicuous  Manner 
compleatly  and  demonstratively  delivered  for  all  Planes  both  by 
Lines  and  Numbers.  The  worth  of  this  Work  will  be  best  valued 
by  those  who  after  sad  wanderings  have  at  length  sate  down  wearied, 
with  the  obscure  and  tovlsome  Labvrinths  of  others.” 

✓  J 

— Sciograpbia ,  or  The  Art  of  Shadowes,  John  Wells,  Esquire,  1635. 

UOTING  from  a  mathematical 
treatise,  we  define  dialling  or 
gnomonics  as  treating  of  the 
construction  of  any  instru¬ 
ment,  portable  or  fixed,  which 
determines  the  divisions  of  the 
day  by  the  motion  of  a  shadow 
of  some  object  on  which  the 
sun’s  rays  fall. 

A  short  definition  of  differ¬ 
ent  mechanical  forms  of  sun-dials,  and  of  a  few 
of  the  terms  used  in  dialling,  will  be  necessary 
for  the  full  understanding  of  this  chapter,  and  ot 
any  rules  for  the  construction  of  dials.  Dials  are 
portable  and  fixed.  The  former  are  described  in 
another  chapter.  The  term  fixed  dial  is  applied 
to  any  dial  fastened  in  a  permanent  position. 

87 


88  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

The  dial  may  be  horizontal  or  vertical,  or  inclining, 
which  latter  means  fixed  in  any  sloping  position, 
fixed  on  any  place  that  is  not  horizontal  or  verti¬ 
cal.  A  declining  dial  is  one  which  does  not 
face  exactly  either  north,  south,  east,  or  west.  A 
proclining  dial  is  one  whose  plane  is  not  vertical, 
but  leans  forward  at  the  top  ;  a  reclining  dial  is  the 
opposite,  where  its  plane  slopes  backward.  A  refrac¬ 
tive  dial  uses  refracted  light ;  such  are  the  window- 
dials  described  in  another  chapter.  A  reflective  dial 
is  one  in  which  the  time  is  indicated  by  a  spot  of 
light  thrown  by  a  bit  of  mirror;  such  are  spot-dials. 
A  cylindrical  dial  is  one  drawn  on  a  cylindrical  sur¬ 
face,  usually  a  half-cylinder ;  these  are  found  on 
lectern-shaped  dials.  A  globe-dial,  star-dial,  and  a 
cross-dial  are  in  the  forms  indicated  by  their  names. 

A  quadrantal  dial  is  in  the  shape  of  a  quadrant, 
usually  in  portable  form.  An  equinoctial  dial  is 
one  whose  plane  is  perpendicular  to  the  earth’s  axis. 
The  expression  to  rectify  a  sun-dial  means  simply 
to  prepare  a  dial  for  an  observation  ;  to  orient  a 
dial  is  to  place  it  properly  in  regard  to  the  points  of 
the  compass. 

A  nocturnal  dial  shows  the  time  by  the  moon’s 
shadow,  or  by  some  mechanical  device.  A  very 
quaint  nocturnal  dial  from  Leybourne’s  Dialling  is 
here  reproduced. 

For  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1876,  there  was  made  and  set  up  an  interesting  sun¬ 
dial,  having  in  all  sixteen  dial-faces.  Among  them 
were  many  of  the  unusual  dials  just  named.  This 
dial  is  an  instrument  of  great  scientific  value,  and 


Nocturnal  Dial 


From  Leybourne’s  Dialling. 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


89 


has  been  preserved  through  the  thought  and  care 
of  the  late  Commander  Joseph  Philip  Mickley,  who 
had  it  placed  upon  the  lawn  of  his  home  near  Allen¬ 
town,  Pennsylvania,  and  carefully  adjusted  and  re¬ 
stored.  Mrs.  Mickley  has  given  me  two  photographs 
of  this  interesting  dial ;  they  are  shown  on  pages  90 
and  92.  The  dial  gives  the  time  at  many  of  the 
principal  cities  of  this  globe. 

The  elementary  astronomical  facts  upon  which 
dialling  is  founded  are  the  two  motions  of  the  earth, 
diurnal  and  annual.  The  correct  way  of  expressing 
the  two  motions  is,  of  course,  that  the  earth  turns 
on  its  axis  uniformly  from  west  to  east  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  is  carried  around  the  sun  in  one 
year  at  a  nearly  uniform  rate;  but  in  dialling  the 
explanations  are  easier  if  the  idea  of  the  ancients  is 
adopted,  —  the  apparent  motion,  which  is  that  the  sun 
and  stars  revolve  around  the  earth’s  axis  once  a  day, 
the  sun  lagging  a  little  behind  the  stars  until  its  day 
is  four  minutes  longer,  and  then  back  again.  This 
retardation  of  the  sun  makes  the  time  as  measured 
by  a  sun-dial  somewhat  irregular,  and  a  dial  or  clock 
which  marks  uniform  time  agrees  exactly  with  a 
sun-dial  but  four  days  a  year.  These  are  April 
15,  June  15,  September  1,  and  December  24. 

Clock  time  is  called  mean  time;  sun-dial  time  is 
apparent  time  ;  and  the  difference  between  them  is 
equation  of  time.  Phis  will  explain  the  term  used 
in  calendars  and  almanacs,  “clock-fast,”  “clock- 
slow.” 

Atmospheric  refraction  brings  in  another  error  in 
dialling,  since  it  alters  the  apparent  position  of  the 


90  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

sun,  but  this  effect  is  very  small  and  need  not  be 
considered  in  a  sun-dial,  which  is,  after  all,  so  sel¬ 
dom  accurate  throughout  the  year. 

The  teaching  of  mathematics  in  everyday  schools, 
after  centuries  of  surprisingly  little  change,  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  became  greatly 


Dial-head  of  Centennial  Dial. 


altered.  Ordinary  school-books  and  very  common¬ 
place  pupils  show  that  in  the  early  part  of  that 
century  navigation,  land-surveying,  and  dialling  were 
universally  taught.  Now,  few  of  the  young  who 
go  down  upon  the  sea  in  ships  know  much  of 
the  mathematical  side  of  their  calling.  When  every 
boy  wanted  to  go  to  sea,  and  many  did  go  and  be- 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials  91 

came  ship’s  captains  as  soon  as  they  came  of  age,  the 
study  of  navigation  meant  something.  The  pub¬ 
lication  of  ordnance  maps,  with  many  other  in¬ 
fluences,  has  set  aside  the  practical  and  theoretical 
study  of  land-surveying.  The  study  of  dialling 
vanished  still  earlier,  with  the  multiplication  of 
church  clocks  and  watches. 

We  find  Thomas  Jefferson  amusing  himself  dur¬ 
ing  an  illness  in  calculating  dials,  as  told  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Clay. 

“Poplar  Forest,  August  23,  1811. 

“Dear  Sir:  —  While  here,  and  much  confined  to  the 
house  by  my  rheumatism,  I  have  amused  myself  with  cal¬ 
culating  the  hour  lines  of  an  horizontal  dial  for  the  latitude 
of  this  place,  which  I  find  to  be  3 70  22'  26" .  The  calcu¬ 
lations  are  for  every  five  minutes  of  time,  and  are  always 
exact  to  within  less  than  half  a  second  of  a  degree.  As  I 
do  not  know  that  anybody  here  has  taken  this  trouble  be¬ 
fore,  I  have  supposed  a  copy  would  be  acceptable  to  you. 
It  may  be  good  exercise  for  Master  Cyrus  to  make  you  a 
dial  by  them.  He  will  need  nothing  but  a  protractor,  or  a 
line  of  chords  and  dividers.  A  dial  of  size,  say  of  from 
twelve  inches  to  two  feet  square,  is  the  cheapest  and  most 
accurate  measure  of  time  for  general  use,  and  would  I  sup¬ 
pose  be  more  common  if  every  one  possessed  the  proper 
horary  lines  for  his  own  latitude.  Williamsburg  being  very 
nearly  in  the  parallel  of  the  Poplar  Forest,  the  calculations 
now  sent  would  serve  for  all  the  counties  in  the  line  be¬ 
tween  that  place  and  this,  for  your  own  place,  New  Lon¬ 
don,  and  Lynchburg  in  this  neighborhood.  Slate,  as  being 
less  affected  by  the  sun,  is  preferable  to  wood  or  metal,  and 
needs  but  a  saw  and  plane  to  prepare  it,  and  a  knife  point 
to  mark  the  lines  and  figures.  It  worth  the  trouble,  you 


92  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

/ 

will,  of  course,  use  the  paper  enclosed  ;  if  not,  some  of 
your  neighbors  may  wish  to  do  it,  and  the  effect  to  be  of 
some  use  to  you  will  strengthen  the  assurances  of  my  great 
esteem  and  respect.” 


Centennial  Sun-dial. 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


93 


Many  boys  even  in  that  century  studied  dialling 
at  school  —  not  so  many  in  America,  for  we  had 
our  cheap  Connecticut  clocks  so  early  in  our  his¬ 
tory,  and  used  them  so  widely ;  but  in  Great 
Britain  dialling  was  taught,  especially  in  Scotland. 
Burns  says  in  an  autobiographical  letter,  that  he 
was  sent  to  a  noted  school  “  to  learn  mensuration, 
surveying,  dialling,  etc.”  Hugh  Wilson  at  the  same 
time  not  only  learned  dialling,  but  practised  it,  and 
one  of  his  dials  still  may  be  seen  at  Fenwick,  near  Fal¬ 
kirk.  The  art  of  dial-making  seems  to  have  been  the 
mode  at  certain  times  in  various  localities.  Perhaps 
some  man  of  note  or  influence  awakened  a  special 
interest  in  the  vicinity  of  his  residence.  Sometimes 
a  gravestone  cutter  with  a  pretty  taste  for  novelties 
turned  his  tools  to  dial-making  on  dull  winter  days. 

The  student  was  not  haled  on  by  old  mathemati¬ 
cal  treatises  with  any  thought  of  its  being  an  easy 
task  to  make  a  sun-dial.  He  was  warned  that  he 
must  have  “skill  in  spheriques,  together  with  the 
laws  of  Motion  of  the  great  Luminaries;  he  must 
be  absolute  in  all  Circular  Affections,  as  Declina¬ 
tions,  Right  and  Oblique  Ascentions,  Altitudes, 
Amplitudes,  Azimuths,  Culminations,  Arches  Diur¬ 
nal,  Ascendent,  Descendent,  etc.”  All  these  are 
not  simple  of  speech  nor  simple  of  knowledge  to 
beginners,  even  if  they  were  entitled,  Easy  Rules  for 
Dialling;  Young  Mens  Aid  in  Gnomonics.  Still, 
somehow,  men  of  ordinary  education,  such  as  stone¬ 
masons  and  men  with  scant  mathematical  knowledge, 
used  to  be  able  to  make  precisely  perfect  sun-dials 
from  these  common  rules.  I  must  confess  frankly 


94 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


I  find  it  difficult  to  understand  many  of  the  rules 
which  I  have  seen,  and  I  have  had  as  good  an  edu¬ 
cation  in  mathematics  as  have  women  in  general,  and 
as  have  many  men,  having  studied  thoroughly  and 
with  great  interest  algebra  and  geometry,  and  hav¬ 
ing  proved  myself  one  of  so  capable  a  class  in  trigo¬ 
nometry  that  our  enthusiastic  teacher  led  his  class 
of  girls  well  on  into  the  knowledge  of  land-survey¬ 
ing.  It  does  not  lessen  the  value  of  the  education 
received  when  I  state  that  this  teacher  of  these  girl- 
mathematicians  was  a  good-looking  young  man  who 
had  been  graduated  but  a  year  or  two  from  Harvard. 
In  spite  of  the  antiquated  diction,  I  like  the  rules 
in  Leybourne’s  Dialling  better  than  more  modern 
rules,  but  Leybourne’s  book  is  rare  ;  and  even  the 
fine  rules  for  dial-making  given  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica ,  which  seem  to  me  perfectly  clear  and 
easy  of  comprehension,  have  been  stigmatized  to  me 
within  a  week  as  “  blind,  confused  things.” 

As  some  will  read  this  book  who  will  care  for  sun¬ 
dials,  and  perhaps  will  like  to  construct  one,  but  can¬ 
not  understand  the  application  of  any  rules  such  as 
those  of  Leadbeater  or  Ferguson,  I  will  give  plain 
rules  for  making  a  horizontal  dial,  worded  by  H.  R. 
Mitchell,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  though  he  disclaims 
all  originality  in  their  construction  and  phrasing. 
They  seem  to  me  perfect  in  their  simplicity  and 
exactness  of  information,  and  with  the  attached  Fig¬ 
ures  i,  2,  and  3,  must  be  readily  understood;  and 
when  these  are  grasped,  I  am  sure  the  rules  for  ver¬ 
tical  dials,  given  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica ,  will 
at  once  seem  clear  and  applicable. 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


95 


Rules  for  making  a  Horizontal  Dial 

To  lay  out  the  lines  for  a  Horizontal  Sun-dial  in  its 
simplest  form,  we  will  first  make  the  Stile  or  Gnomon. 

Figure  i.  Lay  off  the 
horizontal  base  line, then 
with  a  Protractor  ascer¬ 
tain  the  angle  which 
must  be  the  same  as  the 
Latitude  of  the  place, 
say  for  New  York  it  is 
about  40°  44'.  Start¬ 
ing  from  the  point  B, 
mark  the  angle  with  a 
line  BC ,  and  draw  also 
the  perpendicular  line  AC  at  right  angles  to  the  base  AB. 
T  his  gives  you  the  triangular  Gnomon  in  its  simplest  form  ; 
they  are  generally  cut  away  at  the  back  in  a  fanciful  out¬ 
line,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines,  always  leaving  the 
line  BC  untouched,  for  its  line  is  the  shadow  line. 

Then  the  angle  ABC  will  be  correct  for  this  Latitude. 

For  the  Face  of  the  Dial  draw  the  line  AB,  and  then  the 
line  CD,  at  right  angles  to  AB.  The  points  C  and  D  will 
be  your  six  o’clock  points. 

At  the  intersection  of  these  lines,  E,  draw  a  circle,  the 
radius  of  which  will  be  equal  to  the  length  of  the  line  BC 
in  Figure  1. 

Then  another  circle  inside,  the  radius  of  which  will  be 
equal  to  the  length  of  the  line  AB  in  Figure  1.  Now  the 
outside  circle,  A  to  D  and  A  to  C,  divide  in  two  equal 
parts,  and  then  subdivide  each  of  these  parts  into  three,  so 
as  to  make  twelve  equal  parts,  indicated  by  00000 ;  and 
do  the  same  with  the  inner  circle,  indicated  by  zzzzz. 

Now  with  a  rule  draw  lines  parallel  to  CD,  from  each 


96  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


of  the  points  of  division,  0,  in  the  two  upper  quarter  circles, 
then  draw  lines  parallel  to  AB  from  each  point,  z,  on  the 
inner  circle. 

Marking  the  points  of  intersection,  then  from  the  central 
point,  it,  draw  lines  through  these  various  intersections,  and 
where  these  lines  cross,  the  circles  will  be  your  hour  points. 


In  drawing  the  figures  for  the  hours,  they  should  have  the 
same  inclination  as  the  lines  radiating  from  E.  The  half 
and  quarter  hours  should  be  made  in  the  same  way,  by 
dividing  the  distances  between  the  points  on  the  outer  and 
inner  circle,  and  where  the  lines  from  E  intersect,  will  give 
you  the  marks  for  the  halves  and  quarters.  T  he  minutes, 
if  you  choose  to  put  them,  can  be  spaced  off  with  the  eye  ; 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


97 


the  lower  circles  can  be  figured  in  just  the  same  way  as  the 
upper,  extending  the  hour  marks  to,  say,  4  a.m.  and  8  p.m., 
but  for  any  ordinary  practical  use  6  o’clock  in  the  morning 
and  6  o’clock  in  the  evening  covers  all  that  is  needed. 


Figure  3. 


In  laying  out  a  Dial  in  this  way,  no  allowance  has  been 
made  for  the  width  or  thickness  of  the  Stile  or  Gnomon  ;  it 
a  thin  Gnomon,  say,  of  an  inch,  is  used,  it  is  hardly  nec¬ 
essary  to  make  any  allowance ;  but  if  you  want  to  use  a 
heavy  Gnomon,  sav,  -y*.  or  ]  inch  thick,  then  instead  of  one 
line  AB ,  there  must  be  two  parallel  lines  the  same  distance 
apart  as  the  width  of  the  Gnomon,  and  instead  of  striking 


H 


98  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


the  circle  from  the  central  point  E ,  two  semicircles  must 
be  made  with  the  centres  where  the  line  CD  intersects  the 
two  parallel  lines,  or  what  is  probably  an  easier  method 
would  be  to  cut  the  draft  into  two  equal  parts  along  the 
line  AB ,  and  place  between  them  a  strip  of  paper  just  the 
width  of  the  proposed  Gnomon. 

As  the  hour  lines  about  the  middle  of  the  day  are  closer 
together  than  those  earlier  in  the  morning  or  later  in  the 
afternoon,  it  makes  a  much  better  Dial  to  shift  the  centre 
toward  the  12  o’clock  mark,  and  draw  a  new  circle  from 
this  point,  and  the  lines  radiating  from  E  can  be  extended 
to  this  new  circle,  and  the  Stile  or  Gnomon  will  have  to  be 
increased  in  proportion  ;  but  the  point  must  not  be  moved , 
it  must  always  be  on  the  line  between  the  two  6  o’clocks, 
as  shown  in  Figure  3. 

In  setting  the  Dial,  care  should  be  taken  that  it  is  always 
perfectly  level,  that  the  Gnomon  does  not  incline  to  either 
right  or  left,  and  should  point  to  the  true  north  (not  the 
magnetic). 

If  this  Dial  is  properly  made  and  set,  and  its  time  cor¬ 
rected  by  the  time  equation  (which  you  will  find  in  the 
United  States  Nautical  Almanac),  it  can  be  depended  upon 
as  an  accurate  timekeeper. 

I  have  been  asked  for  still  simpler  rules  for  use 
by  folk  of  very  slight  education  ;  among  others,  the 
negroes  of  the  South,  —  not  the  negroes  of  the  better 
schools,  but  those  who  know  simply  a  little  arith¬ 
metic  and  a  little  geography ;  the  geography  need 
be  only  enough  to  tell  the  dial-maker  the  latitude 
of  his  home,  which  I  assume  to  be  the  spot  where 
he  is  to  place  the  dial. 

Take  a  piece  of  pine  board  a  half-inch  thick  and  four¬ 
teen  inches  square.  This  will  do  to  make  a  twelve-inch 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


99 


A 


n 


D 


dial.  Paint  it  with  several  coats  of  good  oil-paint.  Make 
the  gnomon  from  another  piece  of  board  half  an  inch  thick 
and  six  inches  square. 

To  shape  the  gnomon 
draw  lines  on  Figure  4, 
from  corner  to  corner, 
like  AB  and  CD  which 
make  E  the  centre. 

Then  draw  the  line  GF 
passing  through  E ,  mak¬ 
ing  this  line  parallel  to 
lines  AC  and  BD.  Of 
course  the  angle  CAE 
is  a  right  angle  of  90 
degrees,  and  the  line 
AE ,  being  half  of  it, 
makes  EAF  an  angle  of 
45  degrees. 

It  should  be  easy  to  find  other  angles  by  dividing  these 
spaces  equally.  A  very  easy  way  is  to  divide  it  into  divi- 

1  sions  of  100  and  these 
subdivide  into  50,  and 
so  on  as  shown  in  Fig¬ 
ure  5. 

Let  us  make  a  gno¬ 
mon  for  Tuskegee,  Ala¬ 
bama.  The  latitude  of 
Tuskegee  is  about  3 2. I 
degrees.  The  dotted  line 
HI  is  drawn  on  the  an¬ 
gle  of  32.I  degrees,  and 
the  figure  HIJ  forms  the  proper  shape  for  a  gnomon  for  a 
sun-dial  to  be  used  at  Tuskegee. 

Now  turn  to  Figure  6. 

On  the  large  square  of  board  find  as  nearly  as  possible  the 


F 

Figure  4. 


IOO 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


centre  and  draw  from  it  three  semicircles  marked  E ,  T,  and 
G.  The  outer  circle,  £,  is  to  have  a  radius  of  6  inches, 
the  next  circle,  F\  a  radius  of  5|  inches,  and  the  circle  G  a 
radius  of  5  inches.  T  hen  draw  three  similar  semicircles 


having  D  for  a  centre.  C  and  D  must  be  I  f  inches  apart. 
Between  the  circles  E  and  F  you  can  draw  in  small  marks 
the  lines  for  the  hours,  half-hours,  quarters,  and  minutes, 
while  between  EG  you  will  draw  the  large  hour  figures 
which  can  be  plainly  seen. 


The  Construction  of  Sun-dials 


IOI 


The  outside  circle  E  will  be  about  I  2.!  inches  in  diameter. 

The  middle  circle  Twill  be  about  1 1.'>  inches  in  diameter. 

The  inside  circle  G  will  be  about  io  inches  in  diameter. 

We  now  must  set  the  triangular  gnomon  HI'J  of 
Figure  5  in  its  proper  place.  Place  it  on  the  dial-face  so 
the  point  H  is  at  xx.  J  will  then  reach  the  circle  C, 
and  that  point  G  should  be  numbered  XII,  the  noon  hour. 

Draw  a  straight  line  yyzz,  across  the  dial-face  run¬ 
ning  through  xx  (where  the  point  of  the  gnomon  meets 
the  face).  This  line  yyz  and  zzx  are  the  6  o’clock  morn¬ 
ing  and  evening  hours. 

Fasten  the  gnomon  firmly  in  place  by  screws  from  under¬ 
neath,  or  in  any  way  you  prefer.  And  then  place  your 
dial-face  in  absolutely  horizontal  position,  and  with  the 
gnomon  pointing  exactly  north.  Put  in  the  other  hour 
lines  by  using  a  good  watch  keeping  correct  time,  and 
making  the  line  of  the  gnomon  at  precisely  i,  2,  3  o’clock, 
etc. 

Of  course  these  hours  can  be  carefully  calculated, 
hut  this  set  of  rules  is  not  given  for  persons  capable 
of  such  precise  calculations.  And  certainly  no  excuse 
is  necessary  for  availing  oneself  of  the  easier  method 
obtained  through  consulting  a  watch  when  the  En¬ 
cyclopedia  Britannica ,  in  its  elaborate  rules  for  dial- 
making,  advises  the  same  thing  in  certain  cases. 
There  should  also  be  allowance  made  for  equation 
of  time,  if  the  dial-maker  knows  how  to  do  so. 
But  without  these  perfecting  details  this  sun-dial 
will  be  found  an  excellent  timekeeper. 

While  every  detail  of  a  sun-dial  must  be  exact, 
I  wish  to  draw  special  attention  to  the  importance 
of  the  precise  shaping  and  setting  of  the  gnomon  ; 


102  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

for  great  ignorance  about  the  gnomon  is  dis¬ 
played  even  by  architects.  Upon  a  house  which 
stands  in  a  neighborhood  filled  with  mathematical 
interest,  near  the  home  of  Godfrey,  the  inventor 
of  the  seaman’s  quadrant,  not  far  from  the  influence 
of  Franklin,  lover  of  dials,  and  under  the  magic 
speil  of  the  sun-dial  of  Ahaz,  and,  moreover, 
in  the  only  locality  in  the  United  States  where 
sun-dials  can  be  found  in  any  number  —  upon  this 
house  is  erected  a  fine  dial-face,  which  even  at  first 
glance  looks  unnatural  to  you ;  then  you  note 
quickly  that  the  gnomon  is  a  brass  or  iron  bar 
standing  at  right  angles  to  the  dial-face,  upon  which 
are  marked  correctly  lines  and  numerals  for  a  ver¬ 
tical  dial  for  that  latitude.  Though  this  dial  with 
its  absurd  stick  of  a  gnomon  had  been  erected  for 
some  years,  I  persisted  in  inquiring  until  I  learned 
that  the  dial  had  been  made  in  London,  and  on  its 
way  hither  the  gnomon  was  lost ;  so  the  house  archi¬ 
tect  “made  a  new  one,”  and  the  man  added:  “It 
doesn’t  matter,  anyway ;  it  doesn’t  keep  any  time, 
it’s  only  an  ornament.  I  am  told  that  a  sun-dial 
is  never  right  within  sixteen  minutes.” 


CHAPTER  V 


INGENIOSE  DIALLERS 

i 

“  In  this  glorious  reign,  as  likewise  in  the  century  which  has 
passed,  there  are  to  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  the  King  and  the 
glory  of  God  in  all  his  works,  as  seen  in  the  sunne  and  his  mo¬ 
tions,  many  ingeniose  diallers.” 

• — Mathemattck  Rules  by  I.  N.  Gentn,  1646. 

“  Methinks  it  were  a  happy  life 
To  carve  out  dials  quaintly,  point  by  point.” 

— j  Henry  VI,  William  Shakespeare. 


S  CLOCKS  and  watches  be¬ 
came  more  general  they 
were  doubtless  often  imper¬ 
fect  and  harassing  in  their 
workmanship.  Dutch  and 
German  horologers  had 
been  warmly  welcomed  to 
England,  and  throughout 
Europe,  but  Shakespeare 
gives  a  striking  example  of  the  carelessness  of  their 
work  in  his  taunt :  — 

“  I  seek  a  wife  ! 

A  woman,  that  is  like  a  German  clock. 

Still  a-repairing,  ever  out  ot  frame. 

And  never  going  aright  !  ” 

The  most  celebrated  dial  and  clock  maker  who 
came  to  England  was  Nicholas  Kratzer.  In  a  letter 

io3 


104  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

written  in  English  to  Cardinal  Wolsey  from  Lucca 
in  1520,  he  is  called  “an  Allemagne,”  a  “deviser 
of  the  King’s  horologies,”  and  it  was  stated  that  he 
was  “ready  to  go  to  England.”  He  was  born  in 
Munich,  educated  in  the  university  of  Cologne  and 
other  German  universities,  and  became  a  Fellow  of 
Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford,  in  July,  1517. 
Under  the  command  of  Henry  VIII  he  studied 
astronomy  there,  and  wrote  two  scientific  books 
which  are  still  preserved  in  the  College  Library. 
Kratzer  and  Holbein  were  both  men  of  merry 
spirit,  and  both  sojourners  in  a  strange  land,  soon 
were  arcades  ambo ;  and  the  portrait  of  the  dialler 
here  copied  (now  in  the  Louvre)  was  painted 
by  the  German  artist,  and  is  deemed  by  many 
his  finest  work.  In  it  “Master  Nicholas”  leans 
contemplatively  over  a  table  with  a  chamfered 
scale  inscribed :  Imago  ad  vivum  effigem  expressa 
Nicolai  Kratzer ,  1528. 

Kratzer  lived  into  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  At 
his  death  many  of  his  papers  went  to  the  hands  of 
the  astrologer,  Dr.  Dee,  who  was  an  excellent  astron¬ 
omer  and  dialler.  Holbein  also  was  interested  in 
clock  and  dial  making.  He  designed  a  time-meter 
as  a  gift  for  the  king,  which  had  on  its  summit  a 
clock  driven  by  wheel-work ;  below  were  forenoon 
and  afternoon  sun-dials,  and  still  lower  a  clepsydra. 

The  most  interesting  English  portable  dial  in 
existence  is  now  owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq.,  of 
Russell  Farm,  Watford,  England.  It  was  once  the 
property  of  Cardinal  Wolsey;  and  it  is  without 
doubt  the  only  existing  dial  made  by  Kratzer ;  in 


Nicholas  Kratzer,  Deviser  of  Horologies  to  King  Henry  VIII 

of  England. 


Ingeniose  Diallers 


105 


design  and  workmanship  it  is  worthy  that  great 
master.  On  this  page  and  page  106  are  shown  a  side 
and  a  front  view  of  this  exquisite  dial.  The  instru¬ 
ment  consists  of  nine  dials  arranged  on  a  hollow 
block  of  gilt  brass,  3^  inches  high,  2^  inches 
wide,  and  ij^-  inches  thick.  The  shape  of  each 
side  plate  (as  shown  in  the  fig¬ 
ures)  is  (in  general)  octagonal 
set  upon  a  base  shaped  some¬ 
what  like  the  lower  half  of  an 
equilateral  triangle.  Seven  of 
the  dials  are  on  the  side  plates 
or  faces  which  connect  these  two 
octagonal  plates.  There  are, 
therefore,  four  vertical  dials  — 
north,  south,  east,  and  west  dials 
—  an  “upper  polar  dial,”  an 
“  inferior  polar  dial,”  an  “  upper 
equinoctial  dial,”  an  “inferior 
equinoctial  dial,”  and  on  top  a 
horizontal  dial,  and  a  depressed 
circle  which  once  contained  a 
compass.  The  tiny  gnomons 
are  all  formed  of  thin  triangular  metal  plates. 

On  the  lower  part  of  each  of  the  side  plates  are 
engraved  shields.  One  (shown  in  the  illustration) 
bears  the  arms  of  Wolsey  :  sable  on  a  cross  engrailed 
ardent,  a  lion  passant  purpure  between  four  leopards’ 
heads  azure;  on  a  chief  ora  Lancaster  Rose  between 
two  choughs.  On  the  other  shield  is  a  representa¬ 
tion  of  the  arms  of  the  cathedral  church  of  York. 
Wolsey  was  made  Bishop  of  York  in  1518,  and 


Side  View  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey 's  Dial. 


io6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 


died  in  1530,  so  the  dial  must  have  been  made  in 
those  inclusive  years. 

Soon  after  Kratzer  was  made  a  Fellow  of  Corpus 
Christi  he  “was  made  by  Cardinal  Wolsey  his 
Mathematick  Reader.”  And  in  the  garden  of  his 
college  this  famous  “  deviser  of  horologies  ”  put  up 
for  King  Henry  VIII  a  dial,  which  has  long  since 
vanished.  But  a  careful  drawing  of  it  exists  in  a 
manuscript  by  one  Hegge,  which  is  now  in  the 
College  Library  ;  and  this  drawing  is  reproduced  on 

page  107  of  this  book. 
It  bears  an  extraordi¬ 
nary  resemblance  to 
the  Wolsey  dial  owned 
by  Mr.  Evans,  both 
in  general  shape  and 
in  position  of  the  dials. 
And  the  arms  of  the 
church  of  Winchester 
are  shown  in  the  draw¬ 
ing  placed  as  the  arms 
of  the  church  of  York 
are  on  the  portable 
dial.  Mr.  Evans  also 
notes  the  similarity 

Full  View  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  s  Dial.  Qf  t|ie  inc]}nation  and 

type  of  the  numerals,  the  arrangement  in  narrow 
circles  of  the  hour  numbers,  and  the  resemblance  in 
shape  of  the  gnomons.  Both  dials  resemble  a 
wood-cut  in  the  first  book  on  dialling  that  was  ever 
printed,  a  treatise  by  one  Munster  ;  and  the  portrait 
of  Kratzer  by  Holbein,  facing  page  104  of  this  book, 


Ingeniose  Diallers 


107 


also  shows  the  great 
dialler  with  a  similar 
block  of  dials  in  his 
hand.  All  this  cer¬ 
tainly  proves  the  as¬ 
sertion  that  it  is  the 
most  remarkable  por¬ 
table  dial  in  existence, 
and  cordial  thanks  are 
due  to  Mr.  Evans  for 
giving  knowledge  and 
sight  of  it  to  us  all. 

Hegge  describes 
Kratzer’s  dial  at  Cor¬ 
pus  Christi  thus  :  — 

w  In  this  beautiful 
Alter  (on  wch  Art  has 
sacrificed  such  Varietie 
of  Invention  to  the  De- 
itie  of  the  Sun)  are 
twelve  Gnomons,  the 
Sun’s  fellow  travellers, 
who  like  farr  distant  In¬ 
habitants,  dwell  some 
under  ye  Aequinoctiall, 
some  under  the  Poles, 
some  in  more  temparat 
Climats;  some  upon  Drawing  of  Kratzers  Dial,  in  Manu- 

Plains  in  Plano  ;  some  scriPt  of  Robert  He^e‘ 

upon  the  Mountains  in  Convexo ;  and  some  in  the  Vallies 
in  Coneavo.  Here  you  may  see  the  Aequinoctiall  Dial  the 
Mother  of  ye  rest,  who  hath  the  horizons  of  the  parallel 
Sphere  for  her  dubble  Province,  which  sutler  by  course  and 


108  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

half-years  night  :  There  the  polar  Dial  wing’d  with  the 
Lateral  Meridian.  Here  you  may  behold  the  two  fac’d 
Vertical  dial  which  shakes  hands  with  both  Poles.  There 
the  Convex  dial  elevated  in  triumph  upon  4  iron  Arches. 
Here,  lastly,  the  Concave  Dial  which  shews  the  Sun  at 
noone  the  hemisphere  of  Night.  In  other  dials  neighboring 
Clocks  betray  their  Errours  ;  but  in  this  Consort  of  Dials  in¬ 
formed  with  one  Soul  of  Art,  they  move  all  with  one  Motion, 
and  unite  with  their  Stiles  the  prayse  of  their  artificer.” 

There  is  something  most  touching  and  stirring  in 
this  poetical  tribute  of  one  dial-maker  to  another  ! 
Who  would  think  that  a  treatise  on  the  sombre 
science  of  gnomonics  could  show  such  an  outburst 
of  sentiment  and  enthusiasm?  It  is  genuine  praise, 
too,  the  adoring  veneration  of  one  craftsman  for  the 
skilled  hand  of  a  master.  The  phrase  “  Consort 
of  Dials  informed  with  one  Soul  of  Art”  is  an  un¬ 
usual  one,  and  a  most  felicitous  one  ;  it  is  a  beauti¬ 
fully  exact  term,  too,  to  describe  Kratzer’s  wonderful 
dials.  I  wish  I  could  read  Robert  Hegge’s  whole 
treatise  ;  he  has  won  my  full  respect. 

There  was  infinitely  more  enthusiasm  on  such 
subjects  then  than  nowadays;  all  sciences  were  new; 
diversions  for  men  of  mind,  for  men  of  parts,  were 
few,  and  science  study  served  as  pleasant  occupation  ; 
dialling  was  a  science  closely  allied  in  the  minds  of 
nearly  all  to  astrology  as  well  as  astronomy.  All 
had  an  interest,  and  nearly  every  one  had  a  profound 
belief,  in  astrology;  it  influenced  many  sciences 
besides  that  of  medicine,  and  was  a  favorite  study. 
It  occupied  with  many  persons  of  leisure  the  place 
that  a  study  of  literature  has  to-day  with  the  added 


Ingeniose  Diallers  109 

zest  ever  clinging  to  aught  mystic  ;  dialling  shared  in 
the  zest  and  in  the  magic. 

A  belief  in  the  occult  influence  of  the  stars  and 
suns  and  planets  upon  daily  life  was  universal. 
Even  the  few  scoffers  who  dared  doubt  the  validity 
of  a  horoscope  still  heeded  the  influence  of  the 
planets  in  the  humble  things  of  life,  —  in  all  farm- 
work  and  domestic  labor  especially.  Medicine  and 
astrology  were  so  allied  that  the  soberest  dispensa¬ 
tories  and  medical  treatises  mingled  their  rules  and 
influences  just  as  freely  as  did  the  old  woman  who 
gathered  herbs  in  the  full-o’-the-moon.  The  dial- 
maker  had,  therefore,  a  certain  honor  cast  upon  his 
work  because  it  was  allied  to  still  deeper  thoughts 
and  beliefs. 

In  Loggan’s  Views  of  the  English  Universities 
many  English  sun-dials  are  shown  as  they  appeared 
in  1688.  Among  them  is  a  pillar  which  stood  on 
the  churchyard  wall  of  St.  Mary’s  at  Oxford.  This 
pillar  bore  a  cubical  stone  with  dials  on  four  sides, 
and  was  crowned  by  a  pyramid  surmounted  by  a 
ball.  This  pillar  with  dials  was  the  work  of  Nicholas 
Kratzer;  and  a  full  description  of  it  is  given  in  his 
manuscript  De  Horologis ,  with  the  inscriptions  which 
were  cut  in  the  stone  and  written  on  placards. 
These  were  curiously  frank,  even  to  the  extent  ot 
telling  that  the  dial-maker  was  a  heavy  drinker. 
The  sun-dial  is  gone,  but  there  still  stands  in  the 
quadrangle  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford,  a 
similar  column  dated  1581.  It  is  shown  in  this 
book  on  page  no.  It  is  taller  and  more  elegant, 
but  there  is  the  same  cubical  block  with  dials  sur- 


no  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

mounted  by  a  pyramid.  This  is  crowned  with  a 
pelican  on  a  globe,  the  crest  of  the  college.  Four 
coats  of  arms  are  carved  on  the  cube  :  those  of  the 


Sun-dial  in  Quadrangle  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  England. 


founder  of  the  college,  Bishop  Fox  ;  the  royal 
arms ;  the  arms  of  the  college ;  and  the  arms  of 
Bishop  Oldham. 

On  the  column  is  a  perpetual  calendar  and  a 
motto,  Horns  Omnes  Complecta.  On  the  pyramid 
are  in  Latin  mottoes  adapted  from  the  Vulgate: 

THERE  IS  LAID  UP  A  CROWN  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
THANKS  BE  TO  GOD;  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD  WITH  ME; 
I  EMBRACE  ALL  HOURS  ;  I  HAVE  PLACED  GOD  AS  MY 

helper.  This  dial  was  constructed  by  Charles  Turn- 
bull,  a  member  of  the  college,  and  his  initials  are 


Ingeniose  Diallers 


1 1 1 


cut  on  it.  A  good  and  full  description  of  it  is  in 
Fowler’s  History  of  Corpus  Christi  College.  It  is 
said  that  the  dial  pillar  was  deemed  “inconvenient” 
when  the  quadrangle  was  used  as  a  drilling  ground 
in  times  of  threatened  invasion,  but  happily  it 
escaped  being  razed.  This  dial  has  been  frequently 
copied,  in  whole  and  in  part.  T  he  beautiful  cross 
in  the  market-place  in  Carlisle  has  some  of  its  fea¬ 
tures.  A  view  from  an  old  print  of  Carlisle  is  shown 
in  the  chapter  on  the  Rosicrucians. 

English  horologers  vied  with  the  German  mathe¬ 
maticians  in  skilful  workmanship.  We  read  that 
John  Poynet,  another  man  of  admirable  learning, 
presented  Henry  VIII  with  a  horologium,  which, 
savs  Fuller,  “  I  might  English  dial,  clock,  or  watch, 
save  that  it  is  epitheted  Sciotericum.”  This  “ob¬ 
served  the  shadow  of  the  sun,”  showed,  in  addition 
to  the  hour  of  the  day,  the  day  of  the  month, 
change  of  moon,  ebb  and  flow  of  sea,  etc.  Fuller 
says  severely  of  such  mysteries,  “  Men  never  were 
more  curious  to  divide  nor  more  careless  to  employ 
their  time  than  now.” 

We  have  some  excellent  pictures  of  the  dial- 
makers  of  the  seventeenth  century  written  for  us 
by  Fuller  and  by  their  contemporary,  that  equally 
entertaining  old  fellow,  Aubrey.  Dial-makers  were 
much  esteemed  and  much  feared,  and  “were  well 
content  to  be  so.”  Aubrey  says,  “  In  those  darke 
times  astrologer,  mathematician,  and  conjurer  were 
accounted  the  same  things.” 

The  Professor  of  Astronomy  at  Trinity  College, 
Oxford,  who  made  the  fine  circular  dial  on  the 


1 12  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

college  library,  did  not  hesitate  to  secure  for  himself 
the  name  of  a  conjurer  by  a  system  of  tricks  with  a 
confederate. 

William  Oughtred,  the  teacher  of  many  “  ingeniose 
schollars,”  including  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  wrote 
in  1578  a  book  entitled  Horologiographia  Geometrica , 
which  Wren  translated  into  Latin  when  he  was  but 
fourteen  years  old.  Let  me  quote  from  Aubrey’s 
lively  account  of  him  :  — 

“  Oughtred  was  a  little  man  ;  had  black  haire  and  black 
eies  with  a  great  deal  of  spirit.  His  witt  was  always  work¬ 
ing.  He  would  draw  lines  and  diagrams  in  the  dust.  His 
son  Ben  told  he  did  use  to  lye  a-bed  till  eleaven  or  twelve 
o’clock,  with  his  doublet  on.  Studyed  late  at  night;  went 
not  to  bed  until  11  o’clock;  had  his  tinder  box  by  him; 
and  on  the  top  of  his  bed  staffe  he  had  his  inke-horne  fixt. 
He  slept  but  little.  Sometimes  he  went  not  to  bed  at  all 
in  two  or  three  nights,  and  would  not  to  come  downe  to 
meales  till  he  had  found  the  qucesitum.  Severall  great 
mathematicians  came  over  into  England  on  purpose  to  be 
acquainted  with  him.  His  country  neighbours  knew  there 
must  be  some  extraordinary  thing  within  him  he  was  so 
visited  by  foreigners.  He  did  not  like  any  save  those  who 
tugged  and  took  paines  to  worke  out  questions.  He  taught 
all  free.  He  could  not  endure  to  see  a  scholar  write  an  ill 
hand  ;  he  taught  them  all  presently  to  mend  their  hands. 

u  He  wrote  a  very  elegant  hand,  and  drew  his  schemes 
most  neatly  as  they  had  been  cut  in  copper.  He  was  an 
astrologer,  and  very  lucky  in  giving  his  judgments  in 
nativities  :  he  would  say,  that  he  did  not  understand  the 
reason  why  it  should  be  so  ;  but  so  it  would  happen  :  he 
did  believe  some  genius  or  spirit  did  help.  The  country 
people  did  believe  that  he  could  conjure,  and  ’tis  like  enough 


Triangular  Lodge  with  Sun-dials,  Rushton,  Northamptonshire 


Ingeniose  Diallers  113 

that  he  might  be  well  enough  contented  to  have  them 
think  so. 

u  He  was  a  great  lover  of  Chymistry  and  told  Jno. 
Evelyn  not  above  a  yeare  before  he  dyed,  if  he  were  five 
younger  he  doubted  not  to  find  the  philosopher’s  stone. 
The  olde  gentleman  was  a  great  lover  of  Heraldry.  His 
wife  was  a  penurious  woman,  and  would  not  allow  him  to 
burne  candle  after  supper,  by  which  means  many  a  good 
notion  is  lost,  many  a  probleme  unsolved.  Mr.  Hanshaw, 
his  scholar,  when  he  was  there,  bought  candle,  which  was 
a  great  comfort  to  the  old  man.  His  son  Ben  was  confi¬ 
dent  he  understood  magique.” 

The  old  dial-maker  died  of  joy  for  the  coming  in 
of  the  king.  Son  Ben  is  a  distinct  character,  and 
takes  his  departure  from  history,  “  putting  on  his 
considering  cap,  which  was  never  like  his  father’s, 
with  much  adoe  to  find  the  place  where  lie  his 
father’s  bones  ;  for  truly  his  grief  was  so  great  that 
he  could  not  remember  the  place.”  The  chronicler 
says  dryly,  “  Now  1  should  have  thought  it  would 
have  made  him  remember  it  the  better.” 

In  reading  the  biographies  of  men  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  we  note  that  their  skill  in 
dialling  is  ever  made  the  subject  of  much  praise. 
Thus  Aubrey  writes  of  one  Edward  Halley:  — 

“  As  a  boy  he  studied  Arithmetique  and  was  very  per¬ 
fect  in  the  Coelestial  Globe.  He  studyed  Geometry,  and 
at  16  could  make  a  Dyall  and  then  he  said  he  thought  him¬ 
self  a  brave  fellow.  When  at  the  age  of  19  he  solved  this  „ 
useful  probleme,  never  done  before,  viz. :  From  3  distances 
given  from  the  Sun  and  Angles  between  to  find  the  Orbe, 
for  which  his  name  will  ever  be  famous.  At  1678  he 


1 


1 14  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

added  a  Spectacle-glasse  to  the  Shadow-vane  of  the  lesser 
Arche  of  the  sea-Quadrant  (or  back-staffe)  which  is  of 
great  use,  for  that  spot  of  light  will  be  manifest  when  you 
cannot  see  any  Shadow.  He  presented  his  Planisphere  with 
a  short  description  to  her  Majesty  who  was  very  well  pleased 
with  it ;  but  got  nothing  but  prayse.” 

Aubrey  refers  to  the  wonderful  dials  of  Wren, 
and  also  relates  of  Robert  Hooke,  the  inventor  of 
pendulum  watches,  about  the  year  1680,  that  when 
but  a  boy,  he  made  a  dial  on  a  round  trencher  with¬ 
out  any  mathematical  instruction,  —  which  was  not 
remarkable,  after  all,  for  a  man  who  invented  thirty 
different  ways  of  flying. 

A  great  number  of  mathematical  works  of  about 
this  date  exist  in  various  public  and  private  libraries; 
these  are  often  in  manuscript,  for  the  market  was 
overstocked.  Fuller  remarks  in  his  Worthies  of 
England ,  “  I  never  did  spring  such  a  covye  of 
mathematicians  all  at  once,  as  I  met  with  at  this 
time.” 

The  interest  in  sun-dials  in  England  must  have 
been  vastly  spurred  on  by  the  never  flagging  zest 
of  King  Charles  I  for  them  in  every  form.  It  was 
one  of  the  touching  stories  which  I  read  in  my  child¬ 
hood  that  he  ever  carried  a  silver  pocket-dial  which 
he  gave  on  the  night  preceding  his  execution  to  his 
attendant  Herbert  as  a  last  gift  to  his  son,  the  Duke 
of  York.  I  wonder  what  was  the  title  of  that  book 
which  I  so  loved,  which  gave  anecdotes  of  the  English 
kings,  princes,  and  princesses  !  There  were  sev¬ 
eral  of  King  Charles  in  it,  and  they  helped  to  make 
him  the  idol  of  my  childhood,  —  a  regard  I  cannot 


Ingeniose  Diallers 


1 1 5 

even  now  divest  myself  of,  though  years  of  mature 
reading  have  forced  upon  me  other  tales  than  the 
sad  and  romantic  ones  of  that  little  picture-book. 
I  had  not  the  slightest  notion  what  a  dial  was  ;  but 
since  it  was  associated  with  the  king’s  dying,  I  had 
a  wild  fancy  that  it  was  something,  a  silver  box 
that  contained  poison  —  to  steal  the  old  motto-jest 
—  a  die-all. 

One  of  the  most  superb  dials  ever  erected  in 
England  was  the  one  in  the  king’s  garden  at 
Whitehall,  set  up  for  King  Charles  II.  1  have  a 
description  of  this  magnificent  and  singular  dial  in 
Leybourne’s  Tractates ,  but  a  minute  account  is 
in  a  book  written  by  the  maker  of  the  dial,  Rev. 
Father  Francis  Hall,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  A 
copy  of  this  latter  rare  volume  was  lent  to  me 
by  Mr.  Lewis  Evans.  A  briefer  account  may  be 
seen  in  The  New  Universal  Magazine  of  January, 
1756.  The  title  of  Father  Hall’s  book  may  be 
given  in  full,  as  being  most  explanatory  :  An  expli¬ 
cation  of  the  Diall  Sett  Up  in  the  King’s  Garden  at 
London  in  1669.  In  Which  Very  Many  Sorts  of 
Dyalls  are  Conteined ;  by  which  besides  the  Houres 
of  All  Kinds  diversely  expressed ,  many  things  also 
belonging  to  Geography ,  Astrology,  and  Astronomy  are 
by  the  Sunnes  Shadow  made  visible  to  the  eye.  Amongst 
Which ,  Very  Many  Dialls,  Especially  the  Most  Curious , 
are  New  Inventions ,  Hitherto  Divulged  to  None.  All 
these  Particulars  are  Shortly  yett  Clearly  sett  forth 
for  the  common  good.  By  the  Reverend  Father  Brands 
Hall  ( otherwise  Line )  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ,  Professor 
of  Mathematicks.  The  book  has  sixty-nine  inter- 


ii  6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

esting  illustrations.  The  Elevation  of  this  dial 
from  Leybourne  here  copied  is  equal  to  a  de¬ 
scription,  but  some  of  the  curious  details  may 
be  pointed  out.  The  dial  stood  on  a  “  Pillar  ”  or 
“  Piedestall  ”  of  stone,  being  in  six  parts,  set  in  the 
general  form  of  a  “  Pyramis.”  The  lower  table  was 
about  forty  inches  in  diameter,  and  had  twenty  dials 
set  around  the  edge,  all  covered  with  glass.  Some 
of  these  showed  the  hour  after  the  Jewish,  some 
the  Babylonian,  some  of  the  Italian  fashion.  The 
gnomon  of  each  was  a  lion’s  paw  or  a  unicorn’s 
horn.  On  the  upper  part  of  this  table  were  eight 
reclining  dials ;  these  were  curious.  One  showed 
the  time  by  the  shade  of  the  style  falling  on  the 
hour  lines,  the  next  by  the  shade  of  the  hour  line 
falling  on  the  style,  the  third  had  no  shadow.  Of 
the  four  faceted  globes  attached  to  this  table,  one 
had  several  dials  “  belonging  to  Geography,”  the 
second  several  dials  “  belonging  to  Astronomy,” 
another  to  Astrology.  There  were  also  four  globes 
with  dials  attached  by  iron  arms. 

The  second  table  was  thirty  inches  in  diameter. 
This  had  sixteen  dials  on  the  circumference ;  these 
differed  from  those  first  named,  in  that  the  former 
were  drawn  on  the  back  of  the  pieces  of  glass  that 
protected  them,  while  these  sixteen  were  on  the 
stone.  These  showed  “  the  different  manner  of 
Rising  of  the  Stars  to  Witt ;  the  Cosmicall,  the 
Cronycall,  and  the  Heliacall.”  The  styles  of  these 
dials  were  little  stars  painted  on  the  inside  of  the 
glass  cover.  This  table  had  eight  reclining  dials, 
four  of  which  were  of  mirrors  which  reflected  the 


Elevation  of  Dial  of  King  Charles  II  at  Whitehall. 


Ingeniose  Diallers  iiy 

shadows  on  dials  placed  above  on  the  third  table. 
There  were  four  arms  with  globes  attached. 

The  third  piece  of  the  dial  was  a  sort  of  globe  cut 
in  twenty-six  faces.  Some  of  these  faces  were  cov¬ 
ered  with  glass  which  served  as  windows,  letting  the 
observer  look  at  dials  within  the  globe.  From  this 
four  iron  branches  held  each  a  glass  globe  painted 
within  in  such  a  manner  that  they  also  served  as  dials. 

The  fourth  part  or  table,  twenty  inches  in  diame¬ 
ter,  was  cut  on  the  edge  into  twelve  semicylindrical 
concave  dials,  of  which  the  style  was  a  Flower  de 
Luce.  The  four  glass  globes  on  this  all  were  inge¬ 
niously  varied. 

The  fifth  part,  a  globe  twelve  inches  in  diameter, 
was  cut  in  faces  of  which  fourteen  bore  each  a  dial. 

The  sixth  part  was  a  glass  globe  seven  inches  in 
diameter,  held  by  bands  of  iron  and  surmounted  by 
a  cross. 

This  very  bald  outline  conveys  no  idea  of  the 
ingenuity  displayed  in  these  many  dials,  which  num¬ 
bered  nearly  three  hundred,  and  were  of  seventy- 
three  different  kinds  ;  the  four  globes  attached  by 
iron  arms  to  the  lower  table  were  marked  each,  Per 
Ignem ,  Per  Aquam ,  Per  Aeram ,  Per  Terrain.  I  he 
first  bowl,  filled  with  water,  showed  the  hour  by  the 
heat  of  the  converged  rays.  The  second  bowl,  also 
filled  with  water,  threw  a  little  circle  of  light  on  the 
true  hour.  The  third  globe,  filled  with  air,  exhibited 
“  two  little  pictures  of  the  sun  like  two  stars,  and 
thereby  marked  the  hour.  I  he  fourth  globe  had 
“  a  geographicall  description  of  the  whole  earth  upon 
the  inward  superficies  ot  the  Bowie.” 


1 1 8  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


The  four  great  globes  standing  upright  on  the 
lower  table  were  very  singular ;  each  bore  thirty-two 
dials,  of  which  twelve  were  pentagons ;  and  they 
served  to  show  “supper  time,”  “sleeping  time,”  etc., 
of  scores  of  points  all  over  the  world.  The  globes 
attached  by  iron  branches  to  the  second  table  bore 


Hexagonal  Dials  on  King  Charles  Dial. 

the  titles,  per  stylum  sine  umbra,  per  umbram 

SINE  STYLO,  PER  STYLUM  ET  UMBRA,  and  SINE  STYLO 

vel  umbra,  which  indicated  their  character.  Through 
the  little  peep-holes  of  the  largest  globes  could  be 
seen  pictures,  including  portraits  of  the  king  and 
queen,  queen  mother,  Duke  of  York,  Prince  Ru¬ 
pert,  etc. 

This  old  book  with  its  curious  wording  and  illus¬ 
trations  has  raised  a  world  of  fancies  and  dreams 
in  my  mind.  I  can  see  the  gay  and  thoughtless 
courtiers,  and  the  equally  volatile  and  careless  king, 


Ingeniose  Diallers 


1 19 

bending  eagerly  over  this  dial,  while  Charles  pointed 
out  to  Nell  Gwynne,  perhaps,  the  various  singular 
contrivances  which  formed  the  dial-faces,  and  trans¬ 
lated  to  her  the  scores  of  Latin  mottoes ;  for  each 
dial  of  the  hundreds,  big  and  little,  had  some  motto 
or  inscription.  It  seems  a  pendant  to  the  pages  of 
Pepys,  —  a  presentment  of  the  court  life  the  diarist 
so  truly  loved. 

And  how  quickly  it  all  vanished!  like  the  graphic 
scene  of  the  king’s  gay  court,  and  his  sudden  death, 
so  strikingly  told  by  John  Evelyn.  So  quickly  had 
this  wonderful  dial  disappeared  that  Leybourne  could 
write,  “  Thus  have  I  given  a  brief  account  of  this 
now  demolished  Dial,  which  account  and  figure  to¬ 
gether  may  give  some  light  to  the  ingenious  Practi¬ 
tioner  to  invent  infinite  Varieties  of  this  Kind.” 


CHAPTER  VI 


PORTABLE  DIALS 


“And  then  he  drew  a  dial  from  his  poke 
And  looking  on  it  with  lack-lustre  eyes 
'  Says  very  wisely,  ‘  It  is  ten  o’clock.’  ” 

—  As  You  Like  It,  Act  II,  Sc.  vii,  William  Shakespeare. 

Y  SHAKESPEARE’S  day 
many  pocket-dials  were  in 
use  in  Europe  ;  the  ring-dial 
and  shepherd’s-dial  were 
common ;  the  compass-dial 
less  so.  The  name  poke-dial, 
given  to  them  in  old  poems 
and  plays,  brings  a  pleasant 
study  of  the  words  poke , 
pouch ,  pocket ,  purse.  The  Latin  words  portarium 
and  solarium  are  also  employed  for  these  pocket- 
dials.  Other  references  are  made  in  the  pages  of 
Shakespeare  to  pocket-dials,  among  them  the  shep- 
herd’s-dial,  as  in  j  Henry  VI. 

“  Oh  God,  methinks  it  were  a  happy  life 
To  be  no  better  than  a  homely  swain. 

To  sit  upon  a  hill  as  I  do  now. 

To  carve  out  dials  quaintly  point  by  point; 

Thereby  to  see  the  minutes  how  they  run. 


1 20 


Portable  Sun-dials 


I  2  I 


How  many  make  the  hour  full  complete. 

How  many  hours  bring  about  the  day. 

How  many  days  will  finish  up  the  year. 

How  many  years  a  mortal  man  may  live.” 

Let  me  tell  the  history  of  this  poke-dial,  and 
give  rules  for  making  it,  so  that,  as  do  still  the 
shepherds  in  the  Pyrenees,  any  one  may  “  carve  it 
out  quaintly  point  by  point.”  A  shepherd  at  Bearn 
made  this  philosophical  answer  last  summer  to  an 
American  who  jested  with  him  over  the  antiquated 
timepiece  he  was  carving  :  “  No  human  being  can 
certainly  dare  to  know  the  time  of  the  day  as  well 
as  the  sun,  since  without  him  there  would  be  no 
time;  so  we  go  directly  to  the  sun  when  we  wish  to 
know  what  time  it  is.” 

This  dial  is  known  by  many  names  old  and  new  : 
chilindre,  cylinder,  calendar,  kalendar,  column-dial, 
pillar-dial,  shepherd’s-dial,  Pyrenean  dial.  Treatises 
on  these  chilindres  are  extant  which  were  written  in 
the  thirteenth  century. 

Warton  gives  as  a  note  to  Lydgate:  “  Kalendar, 
Chilindre,  cylinder,  a  kind  of  pocket  sun-dial.” 
Chaucer  says  in  his  Shipmans  'Tale,  “By  my  chil¬ 
indre  it  is  prime  of  daye,”  which  was  the  end  ot  the 
first  hour  after  sunrise. 

These  cylinders  are  small  columns  ot  ivory  or 
wood  having  at  the  top  a  kind  of  stopper  or  lid 
with  a  ring  at  the  top,  and  with  a  gnomon  hinged 
upon  the  side  of  the  stopper.  I  he  cylinder  is 
divided  into  month  spaces  on  the  circumference. 

When  in  use,  the  stopper  was  taken  out  and  the 
gnomon  turned  around,  so  it  hung  over  the  desired 


122  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

month  space  or  line.  Then  the  dial  was  hung  up 
on  the  ring,  so  it  hung  exactly  vertical  with  the 
pointer  extended  toward  the  sun.  It  could  be  set 
on  a  horizontal  plane,  but  a  slight  deviation  so 
affected  it  that  it  was  far  better  to  hang  it  up.  The 


Drawing  in  14th  Century  Mss.  of  a  Chilindre. 


shadow  fell  on  the  curved  hour  lines  and  showed  the 
time.  Homan  in  his  Vulgaria  gave  in  1520  a  very 
terse  description  of  these  dials,  calling  them  “  in¬ 
struments  like  a  hanging  pillar  with  a  tunge  hanging 
out  to  know  ye  tyme  of  day.” 

On  this  page  is  given  a  drawing  from  a  four- 


Portable  Sun-dials 


123 


teenth  century  treatise  on  the  Chilindre  which  is 
now  preserved  in  the  Arundel  Mss.  It  is  called  in 
it  the  “  travellers’-dial  ”  ;  full  and  precise  directions 
are  given,  as  for  the  wood  to  be  used,  which  should 
be  “  very  solid,  imporous,  equal,  and  without  knots.” 


Two  Boxwood  and  One  Ivory  Shepherd's-dials. 


The  markings  and  lines  are  carefully  shown  with 
exact  directions  for  making  them.  The  gnomon  is 
called  in  this  treatise  a  style  or  indicator,  and  could 
be  made  of  copper,  of  silver  with  a  bit  of  lead  melted 
on  it ;  it  worked  on  a  pin  fastened  in  the  lid. 


124  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


In  the  museum  at  Naples  is  the  oldest  portable 
dial  known,  and  it  is  an  adaptation  of  the  chilindre. 
It  was  found  at  the  excavations  made  in  Hercula¬ 
neum  in  1759.  It  is  of  bronze  shaped  like  a  ham, 


Two  Boxwood  Pillar-dials. 


and  on  the  flat  sides  are  the  lines  and  letters  that 
prove  it  to  be  a  sun-dial.  Its  date  must  be  before 
a. d.  79.  It  was  to  be  suspended  by  a  ring  and  had 
a  tail-piece  which  must  have  been  the  gnomon. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


I25 


A  most  interesting  type  of  cylinder-dials  is  known 
in  India,  where  the  dials  are  set  in  staves  4^  to  5^ 
feet  long,  which  pilgrims  carry  with  them  to  Benares. 
These  are  called  Ashadah ,  the  name  of  the  month 
when  these  pilgrimages  are  usually  made,  —  it  is  the 
latter  half  ofj  une  and  first  half  of'July.  These  pil¬ 
grim  staves  are  eight-sided,  carved  with  numerals  to 
show  the  half  hours  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

On  page  123  is  given  an  interesting  group  of 
chilindres,  owned  by  Mr.  Evans.  Number  1  is  a 
shepherd’s-dial,  of  boxwood,  3^  inches  high,  of 
an  inch  in  diameter.  The  figures  and  month  initials 
were  stamped  on  it,  and  then  filled  in  with  some 
red  pigment.  This  was  bought  in  1899  at  Argeles, 
near  Lourdes,  where  these  dials  are  still  sold  for 
use.  Number  2  is  a  wooden  column-dial  5  inches 
high,  covered  with  printed  paper  varnished.  Made 
for  latitude  49 0  by  Henry  Robert,  horologer  au  Palais 
Royal,  N°  i6y,  Paris.  Its  probable  date  is  1800. 
Number  3  is  a  column-dial  of  ivory  4^  inches  high  ; 
marked  J.  Le  Tellier  AJieppe.  Date  about  1780. 
On  page  124  are  shown  a  column-dial  4^  inches  high, 
■g-  inch  diameter,  probably  German  ;  made  about 
1650;  also  a  shorter  boxwood  pillar-dial,  which 
once  belonged  to  Mr.  Lewis’s  great-grandfather, 
Lewis  Evans,  F.R.S.,  and  which  may  have  been 
made  by  him.  Its  date  is  about  1780;  it  is  3^ 
inches  high,  £  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

I  give  here  on  pages  1  26  and  1 27  two  plates  on  the 
making  of  a  cylinder-dial  from  Ferguson’s  Mechani¬ 
cal  Lectures  on  Dialling.  These  plates  show  how  to 
construct  a  cylinder-dial  for  the  latitude  of  London. 


126  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

Plate  I,  on  this  page,  was  8  inches  long  and  7-| 
inches  deep,  and  was  to  be  pasted  around  a  cylin¬ 
der  6.60  inches  long  below  the  movable  top,  and 
2.24  inches  in  diameter.  The  cylinder  should  be  hol¬ 
low  to  hold  the  style  when  not  in  use  ;  the  style  when 
fixed  must  be  at  an  exact  right  angle  to  the  cylinder, 
and  be  placed  at  top  of  the  line  AB  of  the  Plate  I, 


where  the  parallels  of  the  sun’s  altitude  begin.  The 
length  of  the  style  (or  distance  of  point  C  from  the 
cylinder)  must  be  equal  to  the  radius  aA  of  the 
quadrant  in  Plate  I.  The  rules  for  the  construction 
run  thus : — 

Draw  the  right  line  aAB  parallel  to  the  top  of  the 
paper,  and  with  any  convenient  opening  of  the  compasses 
set  one  foot  in  the  end  of  the  line  at  a  as  a  centre,  and 


Portable  Sun-dials 


i  27 


with  the  other  foot  describe  the  arc  AE.  Divide  it  into 
ninety  degrees.  Draw  the  right  line  AC  at  right  angles  to 
aAB ,  touching  the  quadrant  at  point  A.  Then  from  the 
centre  a  draw  right  lines  through  as  many  degrees  of 
the  quadrant  as  are  equal  to  the  sun’s  altitude  at  noon  on 


Diagram  of  Construction  of  Cylinder-dial. 

the  longest  day  of  the  year  at  the  place  for  which  the  dial 
is  to  serve.  (At  London  it  is  sixty-two  degrees.)  Con¬ 
tinue  these  right  lines  till  they  meet  the  tangent  line  AC. 
T  hen  from  each  point  of  meeting  draw  a  straight  line  (at 
right  angles  to  AC)  across  the  paper  (sixty-two  in  this 
place)  all  being  parallel  to  line  AB.  1  hese  lines  will  be 


128 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


parallels  to  the  sun’s  altitude,  in  whole  degrees,  from  sunrise 
to  sunset,  on  all  the  days  of  the  year.  These  sixty-two 
lines  or  parallels  must  he  drawn  to  the  line  BD ,  which 
must  be  parallel  to  AC ,  and  must  be  as  far  from  it  as  the 
intended  circumference  of  the  cylinder.  Divide  the  lines 
AC  and  BD  by  parallel  lines  into  twelve  equal  parts  for 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  ecliptic  ;  and  place  the  character  of 
the  twelve  signs  in  the  divisions  as  indicated,  which  is, 
beginning  with  Capricorn  and  ending  with  Pisces.  Divide 
these  spaces  again  by  parallel  lines  in  halves  and  in  quarters 
if  they  can  be  distinct.  At  the  top  of  this  drawing  make  a 
scale  of  the  months  and  days,  and  place  it  so  that  the  days 
may  stand  over  the  sun’s  plane  for  each  of  them  in  the 
signs  of  the  Ecliptic.  The  sun’s  place  for  every  day  of 
the  year  may  be  found  in  any  Ephemeris  (or  almanac). 
Compute  the  sun’s  altitude  for  every  hour  when  the  sun  is 
in  the  beginning,  middle,  and  end  of  each  sign  of  the  ecliptic. 
And  in  the  upright  parallel  lines  at  the  beginning  and  middle 
of  each  sign  make  marks  for  these  computed  altitudes 
among  the  horizontal  parallels  of  altitude,  reckoning  them 
downward  according  to  the  numeral  figures  set  to  them  at 
the  right  hand  answering  to  the  like  divisions  of  the  quadrant 
at  the  left.  And  through  these  marks  draw  the  curve  hour 
lines  and  set  the  hours  to  them,  as  in  the  figures  on  Plate 
I,  reckoning  the  forenoon  hours  downward  and  the  after¬ 
noon  hours  upward.  The  sun’s  altitude  should  also  be 
computed  for  the  half  hours.  The  quarter  lines  may  be 
drawn  by  the  eye.  Cut  off  the  paper  at  line  z/C,  also  at 
line  BD ,  also  cut  close  to  the  top  and  bottom  horizontal 
lines.  It  is  then  fit  to  paste  on  the  cylinder. 

I  have  given  these  rules  in  full  not  only  that  any 
curious  reader  may  amuse  himself  by  making  a  shep- 
herd’s-dial,  but  to  show  the  wording  of  the  clearest  of 
these  old-time  mathematical  treatises.  The  drawing 


Standard  of  Dials,  with  Compass.  From  Ferguson's  Lectures. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


1 29 


of  the  lines  for  a  cylinder-dial  for  the  latitude  of 
London  were  engraved  on  a  sheet  of  strong  paper  and 
sold  in  large  numbers. 

The  story  of  James  Ferguson,  the  “self-taught 
astronomer,”  the  author  of  these  rules,  and  his  con¬ 
nection  with  dial-making  is  interesting.  He  was  a 
thoughtful  boy,  ever  occupied  in  watching  the  stars 


Brass  Octahedral  Block  of  Dials. 

while  he  served  as  a  shepherd,  and  drawing  what  he 
called  star-papers.  His  intelligence  and  application 
gained  the  interest  of  a  gentleman’s  butler  named 
Cantley,  who,  when  the  lad  was  sixteen  years  old, 
taught  him  to  make  sun-dials.  Cantley  must  have 
been  a  remarkable  butler,  for  he  was  a  first-class 


130  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

mathematician,  a  master  of  every  musical  instrument 
save  the  harp;  knew  Latin,  French,  and  Greek; 
“  let  blood  extremely  well,  and  could  even  prescribe 
as  a  physician  upon  urgent  occasion.”  We  wonder 
a  bit  how  the  family  fared  whom  he  served.  He 
was  painting  a  dial  on  the  schoolhouse  wall  when 
Ferguson  saw  him,  and  soon  taught  the  eager  farm- 
laddie  algebra,  astronomy,  and  dialling.  With  work¬ 
ing  in  a  mill,  painting  portraits,  drawing  designs  for 

embroidery,  making  clocks  and 
dials,  Ferguson  soon  was  as 
busy  as  Cantley.  The  years 
passed,  and  suddenly  Ferguson 
had  made  his  name  as  a  writer, 
lecturer,  and  inventor  in  gno- 
monics.  He  invented  in  1766 
a  “  Universal  Dialling  Cylin¬ 
der,”  by  the  use  of  which  all 
kinds  of  sun-dials  could  be 
easily  calculated  and  made. 
These  he  made  and  sold,  as  he 
did  orreries,  cometariums,  astro¬ 
nomical  clocks,  and  sun-dials. 
He  had  a  mechanical  rather 
than  a  mathematical  mind  ;  and 
it  may  uphold  us  in  our  mechanical  rather  than 
mathematical  modes  of  constructing  sun-dials  to 
know  that  Ferguson  never  was  able  to  understand 
Euclid,  and  his  constant  method  of  satisfying  him¬ 
self  of  the  truth  of  any  problem  was  by  measure¬ 
ment  with  a  scale  and  pair  of  compasses,  not  by 
mathematical  demonstration.  Ferguson  made  many 


Wooden  Block 
Dial,  with 

Paper  Figures;  1780. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


l3 1 

dials  of  various  kinds  to  use  in  his  lectures  on  dial¬ 
ling.  An  interesting  one  of  his  inventions  is  shown 
on  a  succeeding  page. 

The  astrolabe  was  well  known  in  Persia,  Arabia, 
and  India  at  an  early  day.  Originally  the  word  was 


Brass  Equinoctial  Dial. 

applied  rather  vaguely  to  any  flat  circular  instrument 
used  for  observation  of  the  stars  ;  then  it  was  re¬ 
stricted  to  the  kind  called  the  astrolabe  planisphere, 
—  I  will  not  describe  an  astrolabe,  as  reference  to 
any  scientific  dictionary  or  cycloptedia  will  afford  an 
exact  description.  With  various  contrivances  to  use 


132  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

as  a  gnomon,  they  served  as  portable  dials  for  many 
centuries  ;  such  was  the  astrolabe  of  Chaucer. 

I  suppose  no  one  to-day  ever  reads  Chaucer’s 
Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe ,  or  Bread  and  Milk  for  Babes , 
save  the  painful  editor,  Rev.  Mr.  Skeat.  But  a  su¬ 
perficial  glance  at  his  rendering  of  it  shows  a  very 
gentle  and  pleasing  trait  of  our  beloved  poet ;  a  side 
of  his  character  not  unexpected  to  those  who  love 
his  works,  but  in  some  way  unexpected  in  its  power 
of  moving  your  sentiment.  We  are  bidden  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  English  of  that  and  the  two  succeeding 
centuries  showed  much  severity  to  their  children  ; 
but  the  absolute  memorials  which  we  have  of  inter¬ 
course  between  parents  and  children  do  not,  to  me, 
prove  the  assertion. 

Chaucer  was  pleased  and  proud  of  the  progress  of 
his  little  son  in  mathematics,  which,  with  “  the  Lan¬ 
guages,”  formed  the  substance  of  schooling  in  that 
day-  He  had  previously  given  the  child  a  small 
astrolabe  as  a  reward,  and  the  child  wished  to  learn 
about  it  ;  and  as  Latin  treatises  were  hard  to  com¬ 
prehend,  the  father  wrote  one  suited  to  the  child’s 
mind.  Here  are  his  own  words  :  — 

u  Litell  Lowys  my  son,  I  have  perceived  well  by  certain 
evidences  thine  abilitie  to  lerne  sciencez  touching  nombres 
and  proporcions  ;  and  as  well,  I  consider  thy  bisi  preyer  in 
special  to  lern  the  tretis  of  the  Astrelabie.  Than,  for  as 
much  as  a  philosofre  seith,  he  wrappeth  him  in  his  friend 
that  condescendeth  to  the  rightful  preirs  of  his  friend,  there¬ 
for  have  I  given  thee  a  sufficient  astralabie  for  owr  orizonte 
[horizon]  compared  after  the  latitude  of  Oxenford  upon 
which  by  inditecon  of  this  litel  tretis,  I  propose  to  teach  a 


Armillary  Sphere  Dial  at  Brockenhurst,  New  Forest,  England. 


<* 


Portable  Sun-dials 


133 

certain  nombre  of  conclusions  apporteying  to  this  instru¬ 
ment.” 


His  conclusions  are  interesting  :  that  the  astrolabe 
was  the  most  noble  of  instruments  ;  that  they  were 
too  little  known  ;  and  that  all  treatises  upon  them 
were  “  too  hard  to  thy  tendre  age  of  X  years  to  con¬ 
ceive.” 


“  I  wil  showe  litle  reules  &  naked  words  in  Englissh 
since  Latyn  he  kanstow  yet  but  smal,  my  litle  son. 

u  And  I  pray  trewly  every  discreet  person  that  redith  this 
litle  tretis  to  have  my  rude  endyting  excused,  and  my  su- 


Brass  Block  Dial  made  in  Styria,  Austria,  1691. 


perfluietes  of  words  for  two  causes.  In  the  first  for  that 
curious  enditing  &  hard  sentence  is  ful  hevy  atones  tor 
swieh  a  child  to  lern.  &  the  second  cause  is  this  ;  that 
sothly  me  seemeth  better  to  write  unto  a  child  twice  a  good 
sentence  than  he  for-gct  it  once.” 


134  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


After  all  this  declaration  of  his  determination  to 
write  simple  rules,  it  is  a  disappointment  to  read  the 
rules  themselves.  I  cannot  see  how  any  child  of  ten 
could  have  possibly  understood  them,  even  a  fifteenth 
century  child.  The  description  of  the  astrolabe  is, 
however,  very  clear. 

There  is  shown  and  described  on  pages  105  and 
106  the  most  interesting  English  portable  dial  known. 
It  was  made  by  Nicholas  Kratzer  for  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey,  and  is  now  owned  by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq. 

In  the  latest  edition  of  Mrs.  Gatty’s  (now  Mrs. 
Eden’s)  Book  of  Sun-dials  is  a  valued  addition,  a  chap¬ 
ter  upon  Portable  Sun-dials ,  written  by  Mr.  Evans. 
Certainly  no  one  else  could  be  so  well  fitted  to  write 
on  this  subject  as  he,  since  he  possesses  the  finest 
collection  of  portable  dials  in  the  world.  His  work 
on  Mrs.  Gatty’s  book  has  been  equalled  by  his 
kindness  to  me  in  my  writing  of  portable  dials  in 
this  book,  both  in  furnishing  me  with  illustrations 
and  in  giving  me  the  history  of  special  examples. 
We  have  in  America  at  the  National  Museum  at 
Washington,  D.C.,  a  small  but  good  collection,  of 
which  the  best  are  displayed  in  this  book,  through 
the  kindness  of  various  members  of  the  staff  at  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  who  had  special  photo¬ 
graphs  taken  for  me.  M  r.  Evans  owns  over  450  port  - 
able  sun-dials  besides  astrolabes  and  like  instruments. 
He  turned  to  collecting  dials,  since  they  seemed  to 
be  the  only  thing  that  was  not  being  collected  in  his 
family.  Among  the  objects  are  British,  Greek,  and 
Roman  coins,  flint  and  bronze  implements,  etch¬ 
ings,  china,  posey-rings,  stamps,  bank  notes,  shells 


Portable  Sun-dials 


*35 


—  land,  fresh  water,  and  sea  shells,  butterflies,  moths, 
birds’  eggs,  fossils,  etc.  His  elder  brother,  Arthur 
John  Evans,  F.R.S.,  is  the  head  of  the  famous  Ash- 
molean  Museum  at  Oxford,  and  collects  all  such 
objects,  and  in  addition  Greek  and  other  engraved 
gems.  "Fhe  taste  for  collecting  rarely  runs  in  a 
family  ;  few  sons  care 
for  the  collections  of 
their  fathers,  so  the 
extent  and  vehemence 
of  this  family  trait  is 
surprising.  Mr. 

Evans  has  the  finest 
library  on  the  subject 
of  dialling  that  has 
ever  been  gotten  to¬ 
gether.  Over  four 
hundred  books  and 
pamphlets  upon  dial¬ 
ling ;  these  in  many 
languages.  His  interleaved  copy  of  Mrs.  Gatty’s 
Book  of  Sun-dials  must  be  a  wonderfully  interesting 
thing.  There  is  another  collection  of  dials  in  Eng¬ 
land,  owned  by  a  Mr.  Fry  of  Bristol.  Mr.  Kent, 
the  artist,  has  a  collection  of  garden-dials  at  Hay¬ 
ward’s  Heath. 

The  British  Museum  has  the  best  public  collection 
of  portable  dials;  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
at  Kensington  has  also  a  few  dials.  The  best  col¬ 
lection  in  Germany  is  at  the  Physical  Museum  at 
Dresden,  and  the  German  Museum  at  Nuremberg; 
in  Italy,  the  Galileo  Room  of  the  Institute  of  the 


Thevenot  Sun-dial. 


136  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Studii  Superiori  in  Florence,  and  the  College  Romano 
at  Rome.  There  are  a  few  dials  in  the  Musee  Cluny, 
also  one  fine  private  collection  in  Paris.  I  know  no 


Brass  Universal  Ring-dial,  set  for  Use;  owned  by  Author. 


private  collection  of  portable  dials  in  America  save 
the  few  I  own. 

Readers  of  this  book  owe  to  Mr.  Evans  a  debt 
of  cordial  thanks  ;  for  through  his  generosity  I  am 
enabled  to  make  this  chapter  the  most  fully  illus- 


Portable  Sun-dials 


l37 


trated  chapter  on  portable  dials  ever  printed  in  Eng¬ 
lish,  or  I  believe  in  any  language ;  and  illustrated, 
too,  with  the  rarest  and  most  beautiful  examples  of 
their  kind.  Many  are  unique  ;  and  all  would  be 
beyond  any  possi¬ 
bility  of  examina¬ 
tion  and  compari¬ 
son,  save  for  his 
thoughtfulness  and 
kindness. 

An  ancient  form 
of  portable  dial  was 
called  the  ring-dial ; 
it  is' old  as  Shake¬ 
speare’s  day.  These 
varied  greatly  in 
size.  Mr.  Evans 
has  seen  but  one 
English  ring -dial 
small  enough  for 
a  finger  ring; 
though  he  has  them 
of  the  size  proper  Brass  Universal  Ring-dial,  Flat  for 

to  use  on  a  watch  carr*lne;  owned  by  Author- 

fob  or  as  a  seal.  These  were  from  inches  to 
2 1  inches  in  diameter  and  were  made  in  large  numbers 
in  Sheffield  throughout  the  eighteenth  century.  In 
this  form  they  were  simply  a  flat  ring  with  the  hour 
lines  drawn  diagonally  across  the  narrow  surface  of 
the  ring.  Through  a  tiny  hole  drilled  in  one  side  the 
sun’s  rays  sent  a  shining  spot  of  light  upon  the  hour 
lines. 


138  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

On  page  136  is  shown,  full  size,  a  “  universal  ring- 
dial,”  owned  by  the  author.  This  is  a  very  good 
example  of  a  common  form  of  this  dial,  which  was 
greatly  used  in  England  in  the  seventeenth  and  eigh¬ 
teenth  centuries.  It  is,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  illus¬ 
tration,  a  kind  of  armillary 
sphere  showing  the  circles 
of  the  equator  and  the 
meridian  together  with 
the  polar  axis  (the  bar 
across  the  centre),  which  is 
marked  with  the  names 
of  the  months  and  has  on 
it  a  sliding  gnomon  with 
a  tiny  hole  in  the  centre. 
The  whole  is  pivoted  to¬ 
gether  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  can  be  flattened  out 
(and  is  thus  shown  on 
page  137)  and  can  be  car¬ 
ried  conveniently  in  the 
pocket.  The  meridian 
ring  is  marked  with  de¬ 
grees,  and  the  suspending  clip  is  movable  so  it 
can  be  placed  in  proper  position  according  to  the 
latitude.  When  in  use,  it  is  held  up  by  the  ring  and 
turned  until  a  little  line  of  light  falling  through 
the  hole  in  the  gnomon  strikes  on  the  centre  line 
of  the  hour  circle,  and  thus  tells  the  correct  time. 
This  hour  circle  is  marked  with  two  sets  of  nume¬ 
rals,  one  for  forenoon  and  one  for  afternoon.  The 
gnomon  must  of  course  be  carefully  set  to  the 


Portable  Sun-dials 


139 


position  proper  for  the  month  of  the  year,  as  shown 
on  the  table  of  months  marked  on  the  axis.  Another 
form  of  ring-dial  is  on  the  opposite  page. 

Three  full-sized  figures  of  interesting  ring-dials 
owned  by  Mr.  Evans  is  given  on  this  page.  One 


Three  Brass  Ring-dials. 


is  a  brass  ring-dial  2^  inches  in  diameter,  made 
about  1760  by  Proctor,  and  inscribed:  — 

Set  me  Use  me  And  I 

Right  Well  Time  tell 

Number  2  is  a  smaller  brass  ring  i-g-  inches  in 
"diameter,  called  a  seal-dial.  This  is  an  English 
dial  dating  about  1560.  The  seal  has  the  initials 
A.  P.  and  an  oak  branch.  Number  3  is  a  German 
dial,  date,  1698,  differing  from  the  ring-dial  care¬ 
fully  described,  in  that  it  has  no  sliding  ring,  but 
has  twcr  holes  opposite  each  other,  one  for  use  in 


140  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


winter,  one  in  summer.  On  this  page  is  shown  an 
English  signet  ring  of  silver,  of  about  1620.  The  crest 
is  a  dog.  The  dial  is  less  than  an  inch  in  diameter. 

Its  companion  is 
a  brass  ring-dial, 
either  Swiss  or 
German  ;  1^- 

inches  in  diam¬ 
eter,  and  the  ring 
is  J-  of  an  inch 
wide.  This  dif¬ 
fers  also  from  the 
common  type  in 
having  only  one 
set  of  hour  lines, 
stamped  on  an 
extra  piece  of 
brass,  curved, 
within  the  ring. 
Posies  suitable 
for  rings  were  deemed  also  well  fitted  as  mottoes 
for  ring-dials.  Mr.  Evans  has  in  his  collection  dials 
with  these  familiar  old  lines  :  — 

“  A  Ring  is  Round  and  Has  No  End 
So  is  My  Love  Unto  My  Friend.” 

“  The  Love  is  True  :  That  I  O  V 
As  True  to  Me  :  Then  C  V  B.” 

“  As  Time  and  Hours  Pass  Away 
So  Doth  The  Life  of  Man  Decay.” 

In  Exeter  Museum  is  a  ring-dial  with  the  motto 
which  1  have  seen  on  an  old  stoneware  Georgius 
Rex  jug :  — 


Portable  Sun-dials 


141 


“  If  My  Master  Use  Me  Well 
I’ll  Try  All  Others  To  Excell.” 

“  A  Stitch  in  Time 
Saves  Nine  ’  ’ 

would  seem  incongruous  for  a  dial,  had  I  not  also 
seen  it  on  a  tea-pot. 

Mottoes  are,  however,  comparatively  rare  on  ring- 
dials,  for  there  was  scant  space  for  such  engraving, 
especially  when  a  list  of 
large  cities  with  their  sev¬ 
eral  latitudes  was  given. 

Th  is  form  of  ring-dial 
has  been  used  in  an  en¬ 
larged  size,  but  of  same 
general  shape,  fixed  on 
a  block  to  stand  on  a 
window-sill  or  table;  one 
with  base  and  adjustable 
screws  is  shown  on  this 
page.  Modern  ones, such 
as  the  one  on  page  142, 
are  now  sold  in  London 
at  the  shop  of  F.  Bar¬ 
ker  &  Son,  Clerkenwell 
Road.  Larger  still,  in 
one  case  with  rings  a 
yard  in  diameter,  this 
form  of  dial  has  been 
seen  as  a  garden-dial.  One  such,  symbolizing  the 
earth,  is  borne  on  the  head  of  an  Atlas  of  stone  at 
Oakley  Park  in  Shropshire.  A  very  beautiful  adap¬ 
tation  of  this  form  is  seen  in  the  garden-dial  at 


142 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Brockenhurst,  New  Forest,  shown  on  a  later  page. 
Another  is  at  Clumber,  the  home  of  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  and  still  another  at  Holland  House. 
The  shadow  of  the  nodule  on  the  axis  falls  on  the 

inside  of  the  circular 
band, which  is  elaborately 
lettered  and  numbered, 
often  in  gold.  This 
great  armillary  sphere, 
seen  against  the  green 
background  of  trees  in 
a  beautiful  garden,  is  a 
most  noble  sight.  I  have 
always  longed  to  have  in 
my  library  a  splendid 
great  revolving  globe, 
such  as  are  seen  in  our 
higher  schools ;  equally 
do  I  covet  one  of  these 
sun-dials  patterned  upon 
the  armillary  sphere.  An 
equally  delightful  mathe¬ 
matical  instrument,  one 
which  makes  us  know 
the  beauty  of  numbers, 
of  pure  mathematics,  is 
a  Sunshine  Recorder;  a 
sun-dial  which  records  every  second  of  sunshine. 
Their  beautiful  great  clear  globes  are  a  joy  to  behold, 
and  have  all  the  mysterious  charm  of  a  Chinese  crys¬ 
tal  globe.  They  are  costly,  for  they  are  perfect  things 
of  exquisite  workmanship.  One  from  the  firm  of 


Globe  Window-dial.  F.  Barker  & 
Son,  London. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


143 

F.  Barker  &  Son  has  just  been  set  up  in  Washing¬ 
ton. 

It  has  been  frequently  asserted  that  George 
Washington  was  in  the  habit  of  carrying  a  pocket- 
dial  instead  of  a  watch,  and  I  have  seen  a  silver 
pocket-dial  which  was  given  him  by  Lafayette.  He 
certainly  had  watches  in  plenty,  as  we  know  by  the 
many  well-authenticated  ones  still  existing  which 
once  were  his.  I  also  know  of  a  pocket-dial  that  was 


French  Pocket-dial,  with  Compass.  Le  Maire. 


carried  by  Rochambeau.  They  were  evidently  the 
mode  among  Frenchmen  of  rank  and  station  of  that 
day.  There  is  also  in  the  collection  of  the  Wash¬ 
ington  Association  of  New  Jersey,  in  their  spacious 
house  at  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  a  very  dainty, 
elegant  pocket-dial  of  silver,  the  card  label  ot  which 
is  marked  :  — 

“  Silver  pocket  Sun-dial  used  by  a  French  officer  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  made  in  Paris  in  1673*  Presented  by 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Miller.” 


144  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


On  page  143  is  shown  a  French  pocket-dial  of 
different  shape,  —  a  silver  pocket-dial  with  compass, 
made  by  Le  Maire  in 
Paris  two  hundred  years 
ago.  When  a  plummet 
is  added,  this  is  deemed 
by  modern  dial-makers 
the  best  of  all  the  pocket- 

dials,  for  use  by  soldiers,  Silver  Portable  Dial,  French, 
colonists,  and  travellers. 

It  is  so  hinged  that  it  can  be  folded  very  flat  and 
thin,  and  takes  but  small  space  in  the  pocket.  The 
names  of  various  towns  with  their  latitudes  are  given, 
and  the  arm  is  so  marked  that  the  proper  angle  for 
the  dial-face  is  easily  found. 

The  choicest  silver  dials  made  in  France  were 
often  furnished  with  shagreen  or  fish-skin  cases  to 
protect  them,  as  were  the  watches  of 
those  days. 

These  fine  French  pocket-dials  came 
in  various  shapes,  —  oval,  round,  oc¬ 
tagonal,  oblong;  and  in  Italy,  a  cross¬ 
shaped  dial  was  made,  holding  a 
reliquary. 

At  Nuremberg  in 
the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries 
portable  dials  were 
made  in  great  num- 

Brass  Portable  Dial,  German.  .  r  °  .  r 

bers,  a  favorite  form 
being  that  shown  on  this  page.  This  is  of  brass  and 
has  a  compass  and  string  gnomon,  and  elaborately 


Portable  Sun-dials 


H5 

engraved  astronomical  tables.  It  bears  the  motto 
Omnia  pervert  it  secli  mutabilis  or  do  1571. 

Other  noted  dial-makers  were  Alexius  and  Ulricus 
Schneip.  On  page  146  are  two  by  these  makers, 
and  on  this  page  one  by  V.  S.,  dated  1572,  probably 
Ulricus  Schneip.  These  are  all  of  gilt-brass,  but 
vary  decidedly  in  construction,  and  form  quite  a 
study.  The  one  with  raised  standard  with  plummet 
is  dated  1578,  and  is  made  by  Alexius  Schneip.  The 
other  on  same  page  is  dated  1553. 

It  will  be  noted  that  all  the  many 
portable  dials  printed  in  this  book 
have  each  some  peculiarity  of  con¬ 
struction  :  no  two  are  alike,  many 
are  unique,  no  others  are  known, 
and  nearly  all  are  here  made  public 
for  the  first  time.  They  merit  a 
fuller  description,  but  any  accurate 
accounts  would  fill  a  book  rather 


Brass  Portable  Dial, 

An  odd  German  dial  (date  about  V’ S”  1572’ 
1780)  is  given  on  page  130.  The  maker  is  D.  Berin- 
ger.  A  hollow  wooden  block  2^  inches  square  is 
supported  on  a  standard.  The  lines  and  figures  of 
the  dial-face  are  printed  on  paper  and  pasted  upon 
the  block. 

A  brass  octahedron  is  shown  on  page  129,  a  block 
with  seven  dials  on  its  various  faces.  The  horizon¬ 
tal  dial  on  the  top  has  no  motto  ;  the  other  mottoes 
read :  — 

OMNIA  FIT  vETAS,  Time  does  all  things. 

'O  HAI02  11 A  NT  A  MEPEI,  The  sun  divides  all  things. 


than  a  chapter 


146  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


FAC  DUM  TEMPUS  OPUS,  Work  while  it  is  day. 
IIANY  ANA<FEPEI  XP0N02,  The  sun  brings  all  things. 
NULLA  DIES  SINE  LINEA,  No  day  without  its  line. 
'O  KAIP02  OIKETAI,  The  moment  passes. 


Such  dials  are  very  rare,  especially  in  this  size,  about 
7 T  inches  in  length.  It  is  a  portable  dial,  not  a 
pocket-dial,  as  are  most  of  these  examples. 

A  very  unusual  block-dial  is  owned  by  Mr.  Evans 
and  shown  on  page  133.  It  was  made  in  Styria, 


Two  Gilt-brass  Portable  Dials,  1578,  1553. 


Austria,  and  has  a  decoration  on  one  side  of  the  arms 
of  Palla  Styria. 

Blocks  with  dials  on  several  faces  could  be  set  in 
true  position  without  the  use  of  a  compass  ;  for  if 
all  these  dials  were  accurately  drawn  for  use  in  the 
same  latitude,  they  would  be  in  their  true  position 
when  they  all  showed  the  same  hour.  Still  more 
beautiful  were  the  pocket-dials  of  ivory  ;  with  their 
delicate  engraving  and  mellowed  tint  they  seem  an 
exquisite  curio  rather  than  a  scientific  instrument. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


147 


One  now  in  the  United  States  National  Museum 
is  shown  on  this  page.  It  is  an  equinoctial  pocket- 
dial,  3^  inches  by  4^-  inches  in  size.  It  has  a 
compass,  plummet,  and  string  gnomon;  and  is 
elaborately  engraved  in  colors  with  scales  for  length 
of  days,  lunar  epacts,  etc.  The  names  of  twenty 


Ivory  Portable  Dial. 


towns  with  the  latitude  of  each  are  also  engraved 
on  this  instrument. 

On  page  148  are  two  ivory  folding-dials.  The 
larger  is  a  beautiful  French  dial  ot  about  1660; 
it  is  octagonal  in  shape  ;  3^  inches  by  2^  inches. 
Outside  the  cover  there  is  an  equinoctial  dial.  In¬ 
side  are  three  silver  discs  :  one  is  for  using  the  dial 
by  moonlight ;  the  other  two  torm  a  nocturnal  dial. 


148  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Within  the  lid  is  the  common  string  gnomon,  dial, 
and  compass,  and  silver  calendar  disc.  Number  2 
is  the  tiny  folding-dial  shaped  like  a  book,  —  only 
inches  by  inches  in  size.  It  is  ornamented 
with  brass  bosses.  The  pin-style  dial  shows  the 


Ivory  Book-dial,  1630,  and  Octagonal  Dial,  1660. 


old  German  hours  from  sunrise.  Its  date  is  about 
1630.  On  page  149  are  three  other  ivory  portable 
dials.  The  largest  is  a  beautiful  trinket  as  well  as 
an  object  of  use.  It  is  oval  in  shape,  4§  inches  by 
3I  inches  complete,  with  a  chain  to  use  as  a  chate¬ 
laine  ;  I  wonder  what  German  Frau  wore  this  pretty 


Portable  Sun-dials 


149 


thing  at  her  waist,  and  held  it  up  and  turned  it  round 
to  the  sunlight  three  hundred  years  ago.  It  was 
made  by  Hans  Ducher  in  1595,  and  is  marked  with 
his  device,  —  a  wriggling  serpent  between  the  initials 
H.  and  D.  Hans  Ducher  or  Tucher  was  a  famous 
Nuremberg  dialler  who  had  a  wonderfully  pretty  taste 
in  dials  and  mottoes.  We  can  say  of  him  as  an 


Ivory  Pocket-dials. 


English  lout  of  a  farm  boy  said  of  Shakespeare.  It 
was  near  Stratford,  and  a  friend  of  mine  spoke  to  the 
lad  who  was  driving  some  conveyance  for  her  through 
the  country,  wondering  whether  he  knew  of  the 
great  man,  and  what  he  knew.  “He  may  ha  been 
very  learned  and  all,”  drawled  the  boy,  “  but  he 
didna  know  enough  to  spell  his  own  name  aright. 


150  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Ducher  spelled  his  name  with  all  the  ingenious  vari¬ 
ety  of  which  the  sixteenth  century  was  capable. 
This  chatelaine  dial  was  planned  for  ready  reference  : 
the  points  of  the  compass  are  engraved  outside  the 
lid,  while  the  needle  was  visible  through  a  tiny 
hole  when  the  dial  was  closed.  Around  the  face  are 
these  mottoes  :  Hie  marinus  compassus  semitam  terra 
marique  ostendit ;  and,  Der  spodter  sol  nichts  verachten , 
den  er  kans  besser  machten.  On  the  bottom  is  a  disc 

for  using  the  dial  by 
moonlight.  On  page 
149  are  two  other 
ivory  pocket-dials. 
One  is  an  octagonal 
folding-dial  i|-inches 
by  ir7j  inches, 
marked  L.  M .,  with 
a  device,  for  Lienhart  Miller,  who  manufactured  dials 
from  1602  to  1643  *n  Nuremberg.  The  larger  fold¬ 
ing-dial  is  3^  inches  by  i|^  inches;  the  work  of 
Paulus  Reinmann  at  Nuremberg,  1578.  Two 
charming  little  ivory  book-dials  may  be  seen  on 
this  page.  One  is  3^  inches  by  2\  inches;  the  other 
2-|  inches  by  2^-  inches.  The  first  was  made  by 
Hans  Troscbel  and  has  the  fine  motto  Hora  fugit 
Mors  venit.  The  second  is  dated  1586  and  has  the 
motto  Sic  transit  Gloria  Mundi.  The  cover  bears 
on  one  side  the  engraving  of  an  armed  man  with  a 
standard  ;  on  the  other,  a  female  saint  holding  a 
cross. 

Another  form  of  portable  dial  is  known  as  a 
quadrant  dial.  In  them  the  principal  circles  of  the 


Ivory  Book-dials. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


1Sl 


sphere  are  projected  upon  a  plane,  instead  of  being 
indicated  by  rings  or  bands.  The  time  is  often 
shown  by  an  adjustable  bead  which  can  be  moved 
up  and  down  upon  a  movable  string,  —  a  plumb- 
line.  There  were  many  shapes  of  these  quadrant 
dials,  some  being  of  great  quaintness  and  beauty, 
such  as  the  “  ship-dial  ”  —  made  in  the  form  of  a 
turreted  ship  with  a  slider  on  the  ship’s  mast  and 
an  ingenious  arrangement  for  adjustment.  A  lyre¬ 
shaped  hori¬ 
zontal  and  an- 
alemmatic  dial 
belonging  to 
Mr.  Evans  is 
pictured  on 
this  page.  Its 
date  is  1763. 

Another  of 
unusual  shape, 
with  a  mova¬ 
ble  gnomon,  is 
given  on  page 
135.  'This  is  the  Thevenot  dial.  Hinged  gnomons 
are  found  on  many  portable  dials. 

A  vefy  fine  equinoctial  universal  dial  owned  by  the 

.  .  .  .  .  ,  ,  Filippo  et  Haves 

author  IS  dated  1764  and  marked  Fra£,H  d;  Bianchy_ 

These  dials  were  very  costly,  and  were  sometimes 
ordered  by  foreign  governments  for  battleships  or 
royal  vessels.  A  similar  one  owned  by  Mr.  Evans 
is  given  on  page  152.  This  was  made  by  l  homas 
Wright,  Instrument-maker  to  the  King  (1720-1750). 


Lyre-shaped  Horizontal  Analemmatic  Dial. 


152  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Mr.  Evans  says  of  it,  “It  must  have  been  a  very  costly 
instrument.”  I  can  say  of  my  own  dial,  that  it  is  one 
of  the  most  exquisite  pieces  of  brass  work  I  have 
ever  seen.  The  engraving  is  as  beautiful  as  on  the 

bridges  of  old 
verge-watches. 
These  dials,  and 
other  of  the  costly 
dials  have  screws 
at  the  corners,  by 
which  they  can  be 
firmly  attached  to 
some  fixed  surface. 
A  portable  dial  of 
special  construc¬ 
tion  for  latitudes 
35°— 9°°  g*lven  on  page  lS3’  The  maker  was 

Augustin  of  Vienna.  This  is  the  only  dial  I  ever 
saw  of  this  form. 

When  metal  workers  were  both  artists  and  crafts¬ 
men,  as  they  were  two  hundred  years  ago,  hand- 
wrought  articles  varied  more  in  construction  and 
shape  than  to-day.  None  of  the  parts  of  a  dial 
were  turned  out  in  vast  numbers,  as  to-day  of  simi¬ 
lar  instruments;  hence  the  variety,  and  hence  the 
delight  in  collection. 

A  very  odd  and  lovely  portable  dial  was  made 
at  Nuremberg  and  perhaps  elsewhere,  what  is  called  a 
goblet-  or  chalice-dial.  T  his  is  a  metal  goblet  marked 
within  the  bowl  with  the  lines  and  numerals,  while 
the  gnomon  is  a  perpendicular  wire  in  the  centre 
of  the  bowl.  I  had  a  great  disappointment  a  few 


Portable  Sun-dials 


*53 


months  ago  in  purchasing  a  metal  dial  dated  1624, 
which  was  described  to  me  in  so  extraordinarily  and 
minutely  accurate  a  manner 
that  I  felt  sure  I  had  se¬ 
cured  a  chalice-dial ;  but 
upon  opening  the  package 
a  horizontal  dial  was  seen 
in  which  the  lines  and  nu¬ 
merals  had  been  cut  upon 
a  pewter  plate  or  shallow 
porringer,  and  the  so-called 
date,  1624,  on  the  base  was, 

I  fear,  simply  a  tradesman’s 
mark.  Thus  was  added 

another  to  the  many  disappointments  of  a  collector. 

* 

“As  high  as  we  had  mounted  in  delight 
In  our  dejection  did  we  sink  as  low.” 

A  unique  and  beautiful  casket-shaped  dial  be¬ 
longing  to  Mr.  Evans  is  shown  on  page  154.  T  he 

base  is  8},  inches  by 
6  inches  ;  the  top  5 
inches  by  3^  inches  ; 
the  height  4  inches. 
The  sides  are  sil¬ 
vered,  the  ornamental 
margins  gilt.  The 
corners  of  the  bottom 
plate  have  four  hemi¬ 
spherical  recesses  i.£ 
inches  in  diameter,  in  which  are  the  heads  of  four 
levelling  screws.  At  the  top  and  on  the  four  slop- 


Brass  Equinoctial  Dial,  Augustin. 


French  Sun-dial. 


154  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


boream. 


JmOTWQMIM  oQUBEKcaAPi® 
a  fofepho  M!  Gwalieto 
Barone  S  0<ra  ■!  ml 
ciclmvenium.aique  deltneaum 
,T  -AJZXJno 
da  Lam  Bor  A^eapolis  (?«!  4050 


ing  sides  are  five  sun-dials,  showing  both  Italian 
time  (reckoned  from  sunset  to  sunset)  and  the  ordi¬ 
nary  hours.  The  gnomons  of  these  dials  are  in 
the  figure  of  a  boy  with  outstretched  finger.  Each 
“  time-boy  ”  wears  an  encircling  ribbon,  on  which  is  a 
motto.  That  on  the  top  was  missing,  so  Mr.  Evans 
added  an  appropriate  motto,  namely,  —  Opera  manu- 
um  nostrarum  dirige  super  nos.  Other  mottoes  read  : 


Casket  Dial. 

A  soils  ortu  usque  ad  meridiem  intervalla  ipsa  diei 
<eque  denuncio.  A  meridie  usque  ad  soils  occasum  ita- 
que  cum  ilia  gradior.  Vesper e  cum  eis  pariter  et  mane 
in  eodem  die  ostendere  non  deferam.  Expecto  donee 
veniat  illuminatio  mea  ut  cum  aliis  inservire  valeam. 

T  his  casket  was  made  in  the  year  1770;  and  I 
have  noted  a  similar  date  on  two  or  three  Italian 
dials,  of  various  makers,  and  I  believe  portable 
dials  were  much  used  at  that  time. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


lSS 


On  one  side  is  also  the  inscription,  which  can  be 
read  in  the  photograph.  Within  the  lid  is  a  hinged 
plate;  on  its  outer  face  is  a  long  inscription,  giving 
the  name  of  the  owner  and  maker. 

When  the  hinged  plate  is  turned  up,  an  inscrip¬ 
tion  in  Italian  can  be  read,  giving  a  full  description 
of  the  use  of  the  instrument.  Within  the  casket 
are  two  cross-bars;  one  carries  a  compass,  the  other 
a  plumb-level. 

The  introduction  of  the  mariner’s  compass  into 
Europe  afforded  a  wonderful  aid  to  the  perfection 
and  simplicity  of  the  dial ;  and  soon  in  the  thir¬ 
teenth  century  compass-dials  appeared,  and  have 
continued  in  use  to  this  day. 

All  portable  dials  of  these  general  forms  such  as 
dials  inscribed  on  quadrants,  astrolabes,  and  flat 
plates  of  varied  shapes,  can  be  used  without  a  com¬ 
pass  and  tell  the  time  by  the  sun’s  altitude,  not  by 
its  position.  But  more  exact  dials  have  a  compass 
attached  to  them,  and  some  have  a  spirit-level  and 
a  plummet ;  and  some  have  set  screws  also.  By- these 
means  a  perfect  adjustment  can  be  made.  Some 
have  an  ordinary  dial-plate  fitted  with  a  quadrant  and 
in  such  a  way  that  the  dial  can  be  adjusted  to  suit 
the  various  latitudes. 

It  is  said  that  all  English  soldiers  have  till  this 
day  the  custom  of  taking  a  pocket  sun-dial  and  com¬ 
pass  as  part  of  an  outfit,  since  the  latter  will  stand 
any  climate  and  are  not  liable  to  the  sudden  derange¬ 
ments  to  which  all  watches  are  subject.  Such  are, 
I  know,  for  sale  in  many  London  shops,  but  I 
think  they  are  seldom  found  in  America.  Messrs. 


156  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 


Barker  &  Son  make  a  large  number  of  pocket  sun¬ 
dials. 

Finger  rings  were  made  with  tiny  compass  and 
dial  with  a  hinged  cover.  One  was  sold  in  New 
York  two  years  ago,  with  an  accompanying  descrip¬ 
tion  saying  that  the  gnomon  was  made  of  human 

hair  which  had  grown  on  the 
head  of  “  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie.” 
It  was  suspected  to  be  of  very 
modern  manufacture.  There 
are  several  of  these  rings  at  the 
British  Museum. 

A  dial  of  unusual  shape  is  in 
the  National  Museum  at 
Washington  ;  it 
is  given  on  this 
page.  The  maker 
is  G.  F.  Brander. 
Its  construction 
is  singular,  but 
Brass  Portable  Dial.  Maker,  G.  F.  Brander.  its  action  Very 

accurate.  A  nee¬ 
dlelike  gnomon  is  mounted  on  a  cross-bar,  and 
casts  its  shadow  on  a  semicircular  sheet  of  brass 
beneath  it. 

In  dialling  the  Chinese  never  accomplished  any¬ 
thing,  for  they  had  scant  and  very  deficient  knowl¬ 
edge  of  astronomy  and  mathematics,  though  they  had 
for  forty-five  centuries  —  according  to  the  Shu-king 
—  made  instruments  analogous  to  the  quadrant  and 
armillary  sphere.  Sun-dials  came  to  them,  and 
knowledge  to  make  them,  from  the  West,  from  the 


Portable  Sun-dials 


T57 


Mohammedans,  not  through  the  Jesuits,  as  some 
writers  have  supposed.  A  few  modern  dials  may 
be  seen  in  public  offices,  all  made  under  the 
direction  of  missionaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

From  remote  antiquity  the  manufacture  of  pocket 
compasses  has  been  held  exclusively  by  a  family 


Chinese  Sun-dials. 


named  Wang  living  in  Hiri-wing-hien,  in  the  prov¬ 
ince  of  Nyanhwai.  Many  of  these  compasses  have 
a  sun-dial  attached ;  these  are  in  the  German  type, 
with  a  thread  for  a  gnomon.  Another  portable  dial 
used  by  clock-makers  is  marked  with  notches,  one 
for  each  month,  thus  giving  the  gnomon  varied 


158  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


angles.  The  pocket-dial  of  the  Japanese  exceeds 
that  of  the  Chinese  in  every  respect. 

Two  Chinese  dials  are  shown  on  page  157.  Num¬ 
ber  1  is  a  little  Chinese  folding-dial  and  compass,- in 
a  wooden  case.  It  was  bought  by  Mr.  Evans  in  a 
shop  in  Chinatown,  San  Francisco,  1877.  The  sec¬ 
ond  is  a  Chinese  dial  with  compass  and  plummet. 
On  this  page  is  shown  a  circular  silver  box  contain¬ 
ing  a  compass  and  dial.  This  is  Japanese. 

There  are  many  fanciful  “  conceits  ”  for  portable 
dials.  The  human  hand  is  made  into  one  by  hold¬ 
ing  it  upright  and 
thrusting  a  small  stick 
between  the  thumband 
forefinger,  and  turning 
the  loose  end  about 
until  the  shadow  of 
this  gnomon  falls  on 
“  the  line  of  life.”  I 
make  also  an  amusing 
little  toy  sun-dial, 
plain  glass  cylinder-shaped 
tumbler,  a  knitting  needle,  and  a  slip  of  cardboard. 
This  is  a  surprisingly  accurate  timekeeper. 

Some  very  fine  and  exact  portable  dials  are  manu¬ 
factured  to-day.  Flechet’s  universal  sun-dial,  shown 
on  page  159,  is  of  great  value  to  a  traveller  or 
explorer.  It  will  be  seen  by  any  student  of  dials  to 
be  a  general  gnomonic  form  which  has  long  been 
made,  but  in  addition  the  curve  of  the  mean  time  has 
been  traced  upon  the  circle  H  in  such  a  manner  that 
by  an  adjustment  of  the  horary  circle  and  an  inclina- 


Japanese  Pocket-dial. 

using  as  materials  a 


Portable  Sun-dials 


159 


tion  of  the  axis,  the  latitude  of  the  plane  can  be 
determined  ;  then  of  course  the  instrument  can  be 
adjusted  to  give  the  exact  time  of  that  place. 

A  very  interesting  dial  is  sold  in  London  which 
was  devised  by  General  Oliver,  and  the  portable  form 
is  known  by  his  name, 
clock  time,  which  may 
differ  from  apparent  time 
as  much  as  sixteen  min¬ 
utes.  This  time-adjust¬ 
ment  is  accomplished 
simply  by  an  enlarge¬ 
ment  of  a  section  of  the 
rod  which  is  the  gno¬ 
mon.  Thus  a  curved 
shadow  is  thrown  in¬ 
stead  of  a  straight  one. 

The  meridional  and 
equatorial  arcs  are  ad¬ 
justable,  and  have 
screws  for  fixing  them 
at  any  given  altitude. 

The  shadow  of  this 
perfected  gnomon  falls 
on  the  equatorial  circle, 
an  adaptation  of  the  principle  used  in  the  cannon- 
dial  shown  on  page  49. 

An  ingenious  card-dial  dates  from  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  sometimes 
called  The  Capuchin  from  a  fancied  resemblance 
to  a  Capuchin  cowl  thrown  back.  A  noted  mathe¬ 
matician  says  of  it  :  — 


It  indicates  mean  time  or 


Flechet's  Universal  Sun-dial. 

This  dial  and  gnomon  are 


160  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

“  This  card-dial  deserves  to  be  looked  upon  as  something 
more  than  a  mere  toy.  Its  ingenuity  and  scientific  accuracy 
give  it  an  educational  value  which  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  roughness  of  the  results  obtained.” 

This  card-dial,  calculated  for  the  latitude  of  Lon¬ 
don,  was  patented  by  James  Ferguson  in  1759,  and 

apparently  was  sold 
in  large  numbers. 
It  was  on  a  card  4J 
inches  by  3  inches, 
with  a  tiny  green 
silk  cord  as  a 
marker.  This  could 
be  carried  in  a 
pocketbook.  It  has 
been  republished 
in  this  country,  for 
the  latitude  of  New 
York,  by  a  true 
“  dialler,”  Captain 
John  S.  Bailey  of 
Buckingham,  Penn¬ 
sylvania.  I  give  a  figure  of  his  card  on  page  161. 

Of  course,  there  are  in  the  United  States  many 
houses  that  manufacture  optical  and  mathematical 
instruments  and  also  make  sun-dials.  There  are  also 
those  who  make  and  sell  very  pretty  brass  dials, 
made  to  look  well,  and  absolutely  regardless  of  the 
shape  of  the  gnomon  or  drawing  of  the  hour  lines. 
I  know  no  individual,  however,  save  Captain  Bailey, 
who  makes  accurate  sun-dials  for  all  latitudes.  His 
picture,  taken  in  his  workshop,  is  shown  opposite 


r 


German  Portable  Dial,  Brass.  Owned 
by  Lewis  Evans,  Esq. 


Portable  Sun-dials 


1 6 1 


page  162.  He  was  originally  a  house-builder,  then 
a  clock  seller  and  mender,  then  gradually  drifted  into 
dial-making.  He  has  made  and  sold  over  three 


hundred  dials;  some  of  them  have  been  very  hand¬ 
some  and  costly  ;  his  simple  metal,  horizontal  dials 
have  had  a  steady  sale.  His  books  of  instruction 


M 


1 62  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


were  Leadbetter’s  'Dialling  and  Ferguson’s  Lectures , 
the  same  book  from  which  George  and  Robert 
Stephenson,  the  great  railroad  engineers,  constructed 
the  vertical  dial  which  may  still  be  seen  on  the 
humble  cottage  at  Killingworth,  which  was  their 
early  home.  Father  and  son  learned  from  Fergu¬ 
son’s  book  how  to  make  the  necessary  calculations 
for  the  latitude  of  Killingworth,  near  Newcastle,  and 
together  hewed,  carved,  polished,  and  set  in  place 
the  dial-stone. 


John  S.  Bailey,  Dial-maker,  in  his  Workshop. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  SUN-DIAL  AS  AN  EMBLEM 

“  An  Emblem  is  but  a  silent  Parable.  Before  the  knowledge  of 
letters,  God  was  known  by  hieroglyphics.  And  what  indeed  are 
the  Heavens,  the  Earth,  nay  every  creature,  but  Hieroglyphics  and 
Emblems  of  His  Glory?  I  have  no  more  to  say  :  I  wish  thee 
as  much  pleasure  in  the  reading  as  I  had  in  the  writing.  Farewell  ! 
Reader  !  ” 

—  Emblems  Divine  and  Moral  ( The  Preface ),  Francis  Quarles,  1634. 

“  How  the  face  of  common  day 
Is  written  all  over  with  tender  histories. 

When  you  study  it  that  intenser  way. 

Till  now  you  dreamed  not  what  could  be  done 
With  a  bit  of  rock,  and  a  ray  of  sun.” 

—  James  Russell  Lowell. 

EARLY  all  original  forms  of 
sun-dials  were  good,  because 
simple  and  conventional, 
and  certain  decorative  ideas 
which  appeared  after  a  time 
were  also  good ;  but  sun¬ 
dials  in  general,  as  made  to¬ 
day,  have  scant  originality. 
This  is  surprising  when  we 
note  the  originality  of  de¬ 
sign  displayed  of  late  in  architectural  decoration. 
I  believe  the  true  reason  for  this  monotony  is 
the  fact  that  the  sun-dial  is  looked  upon  solely 

163 


164  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

as  an  architectural  detail,  not  as  an  individual  ob¬ 
ject  with  a  place  of  its  own  in  the  world ;  there 
is  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  ideality  of  the 
sun-dial.  All  this  commonplaceness  of  design  will 
vanish,  all  this  monotony  cease,  if  designers  learn  to 
love  the  sun-dial,  and  to  regard  it  as  an  Emblem, 
and  one  of  importance,  an  Emblem  with  a  capital 
initial,  Emblem  in  the  highest,  the  specific,  the 
Shakespearian  sense  of  the  word,  Emblem  with  a 
moral  lesson  to  suggest  or  even  tell  in  detail. 

Let  me  explain  precisely  what  I  term  an  Em¬ 
blem.  The  word  has  had  many  meanings,  and  offers 
a  curious  example  of  word-variation.  Originally  its 
classical  meaning  was  simply  an  inserted  ornament 
which  had  some  significant  place — often  this  was  of 
mosaic  or  marquetry  work  ;  then  it  became  a  detach¬ 
able  ornament,  still  significant,  which  was  hung  on 
pillars  or  vases  ;  then  it  became  simply  the  “  pic¬ 
ture  and  short  posie  expressing  some  particular 
conceit”  which  is  the  definition  in  Cotgrave’s  Dic¬ 
tionary,  which  I  fancy  was  the  dictionary  known 
of  Shakespeare. 

A  noted  Emblem  writer,  Geoffrey  Whitney,  gave 
in  the  year  1586  a  lucid  explanation  of  an  Emblem 
in  such  definite,  albeit  quaint,  phrasing  that  I  quote 
it  in  full. 

w  This  worde  Embleme  is  as  much  to  say  in  English  as 
To  set  in  or  to  put  in  :  properlie  ment  by  suche  figures  or 
workes  as  are  wrought  in  plate  or  in  stone  in  the  Pave- 
mentes,  or  on  the  Waules,  or  suchlike,  for  the  adorning  of 
the  place  :  having  some  wittie  Devise  expressed  with  cun¬ 
ning  woorkmanship,  something  obscure  to  be  perceived  at 


Tost  urna'a  duT'm. 


C!at:«i  icaupiMt 
hcxioct) 

Kan  -j  u  j* wf uf* 

Vera 

tfjbite  •  isitbr*  ttt 
jxsmt, 

St  frtnti  iu**:  f,  fl* 
m.W 

^A-nua  frits  *a  , 
r»td*<fntr.i  spa. 


Du!a*  •*-•***■  -%i 

W1(w'»-  «  •• 


Sharpe  prickcs  prefeme  the  Rofe,  on  eueric  parte, 

Thar  who  in  halte  to  pull  the  fame  inter.des, 

Is  like  to  pricke  his  fingers,  nil  they  fnaartc? 

But  being  gotte,  it  makes  him  ftraighc  am  codes 
It  is  lo  frefoe,  and  plcafant  to  the  fmeli, 

Thoughe  he  was  prick'd  ,he  thinkcs  !>e  ventur’d  wcIL 
And  he  that  fame  woulde  get  the  gallant  role. 

And  will  not  reache,  for  fcare  his  fingers  blcede; 

A  nettle,  is  more  fitter  foi  hts  note  ? 

Or  hemblockc  meete  his  appetite  to  feede? 

Nonetnerites  fweetc,  who  rafted  not  the  fower. 

Who  feares  to  elimbe,  deferues  no  finidc,  nor  flower. 
Which  ftiowes,  we  (houlde  not  fainte  for  anie  pome. 

For  to  atchieuc  the  fruides  of  our  defire: 

But  ftill  proceedc ,  and  hope  ar  lengthe  to  gaine, 

Tlie  thinges  wee  wifoe,  and  craue  with  hartes  entire: 
Which  all  our  toi'e,  and  labour,  foal  require, 
Foral'tcr  panic,  comes  plcafure,  and  delighre. 

When  winter  endcs,  comes  in  the  plcafant  fpnngc. 

W  hen  mgh’e  is  dime,  tlie  gladfomr  dayc  appeares. 

When  gicifcs  t>e  gone,  then  love  doth  make  vs  finge. 


Page  from  the  Emblems  of  Geoffrey  Whitney. 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  165 

the  first,  whereby  when  with  further  Consideration  it  is 
understoode,  it  maie  the  greater  delighte  the  beholder.  And 
although  the  Worde  doth  comprehende  manie  things,  and 
diuers  matters  maie  therein  be  contained,  yet  :  all  Emblems 
maie  for  the  most  parte,  be  reduced  into  those  three  kindes, 
which  is  Historically  Naturall  and  Morall.  Historicall  as 
representing  the  actes  of  some  noble  persones,  being  matter 
of  Histone  :  Naturall  as  in  expressing  the  nature  of  crea¬ 
tures,  for  example  the  Loue  of  yonge  Storkes  to  the  ould, 
and  suchelike  :  Morally  pertaining  to  vertue  and  instruction 
of  Life.” 

This  careful  explanation  illumines  the  meaning  I 
wish  to  convey  of  the  sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  :  the 
dial  should,  like  any  other  Emblem,  have  “  some 
witty  device,”  be  “  of  cunning  workmanship,”  have 
“something  obscure  not  to  be  perceived  at  first,” 
and  should  “  greatly  delight  the  beholder.”  And 
the  significance  of  the  sun-dial  could  also  be  classed 
very  clearly  under  the  heads,  historical,  natural,  and 
moral.  Another  sentence  of  Whitney,  in  the  title- 
page  of  his  book,  A  Choice  of  EmblemSy  1 5  8 6,  runs 
thus :  — 

u  A  Worke  adorned  with  varietie  of  matter,  both  pleasant 
and  profitable,  wherein  those  that  please  may  finde  to  fit 
their  fancies.  Herein  by  the  office  of  the  eie  and  the  eare, 
the  minde  may  reap  double  delighte  through  wholesome 
preceptes,  shadowed  with  pleasant  devises  :  both  fit  for  the 
vertuous,  to  their  incoraging :  and  for  the  wicked,  for  their 
admonishing,  and  amendment.” 

Which  words  should  also  apply  to  the  sun-dial : 
Let  it  be  literature  to  the  bookless  ;  a  monitor  to 


1 66  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

the  heedless;  an  encouragement  to  the  virtuous; 
a  reproof  to  the  wicked  ;  let  it  be  a  delight  to  the 
eye,  and  above  all  let  it  be  significant  of  somethings 
be  this  historical,  natural,  or  moral.  It  must  have 
some  implied  meaning  in  addition  to  its  actual  pres¬ 
entation  or  it  is  not  an  Emblem. 

Emblems  are  ancient  devices.  Dutch,  German, 
and  Italian  authors  wrote  Emblems  in  profusion  by 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Then  these  books 
suddenly  multiplied  in  all  European  languages,  and 
with  the  improved  art  of  pictorial  illustration  reached 
a  high  degree  of  excellence.  Our  great  English 
authors,  Spenser  and  Shakespeare,  show  plainly  the 
influence  of  Emblem  books.  A  splendid  book 
called  Shakespere  and  the  Emblem  Writers ,  by  Henry 
Green,  reveals  the  similarity  of  thought  and  expres¬ 
sion  shown  by  them  all ;  it  also  tells  of  all  the  chief 
Emblem  books,  scores  in  number,  previous  to  the 
year  1616,  a.d.  The  general  conception  held  of  a 
book  of  Emblems  is  of  a  child’s  book,  and  it  is  true 
that  they  are  most  appropriate  for  that  purpose.  It  is 
natural  for  children  to  like  Emblems,  and  they  under¬ 
stand  them.  Emblems  suit  their  fancy.  Stevenson 
says,  “  Making  believe  is  the  gist  of  the  whole  life 
of  a  child.  Children  are  content  to  forego  what  we 
call  the  realities  and  prefer  the  shadow  to  the  sub¬ 
stance.”  Others  think  of  a  book  of  Emblems  as 
having  always  a  spiritual  or  religious  meaning,  such 
as  the  Emblems  of  Francis  Ouarles  or  Willet’s  Cen¬ 
tury  of  Sacred  Emblems.  In  truth  an  emblem  should 
be  serious  ;  it  does  not  welcome  flippancy  any  more 
than  does  a  sun-dial.  But  it  is  not  a  sacred  device, 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem 


167 


nor  even  a  religious  one.  A  study  of  the  old  em¬ 
blematic  books  such  as  The  Dance  of  Death ;  The 
Ship  of  Fools,  1500;  The  Dialogue  of  Creatures, 
1530;  A  Garden  of  Heroicall  Devices,  1612  ;  A  Dis¬ 
play  of  Heraldry,  1611;  Alidads  Emblems,  1549; 
Holbein’s  Imagines  Mortis,  1545,  would  doubtless 
give  to  a  ready  mind 
frequent  suggestion  for 
sun-dial  design. 

A  great  love  of  Em¬ 
blems  sprung  up  in 
France  through  the 
wonderful  popularity  of 
the  poet  Theodore  Beza, 
whose  story  is  so  pleas¬ 
ant  to  read.  In  France, 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
learned  to  love  Emblem 
books,  as  did  her  son 
James.  And  through 
this  love  grew  his  great 
interest  in  the  allegorical 
representations  dubbed  masques,  which  so  prevailed 
at  his  court  after  he  became  king  of  England.  I 
will  tell  at  some  length  of  Mary’s  interest  in  Em¬ 
blems,  as  the  story  affords  a  striking  example  of  the 
part  they  played  in  the  history  of  that  day. 

The  many  Emblem  books  furnished  to  her,  as  to 
other  English  women,  beautiful  and  abundant  de¬ 
signs  for  the  decoration  of  houses  and  furniture.  In 
Drummond’s  History  of  Scotland  is  a  letter  to  Ben 
Jonson,  from  which  we  learn  of  a  wonderful  piece 


1 68  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

of  needlework  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots ;  the  let¬ 
ter  begins  thus  :  — 

“  I  have  been  curious  to  find  out  for  you  the  Impresses 
and  Emblemes  on  a  Bed  of  State  wrought  out  and  embroid¬ 
ered  all  with  gold  and  silk  by  the  late  Queen  Mary,  mother 
to  our  sacred  Sovereign  :  the  first  is  the  Loadstone  turning 
towards  the  pole,  the  word  her  Majesties’  name  turned  on 
an  Anagram.  Marie  Steuart  sa  virtu,  m’attire.  This  hath 
reference  to  a  Crucifix  before  which  with  all  her  Royall 
ornaments  she  is  humbled  on  her  knees  most  lively.” 

There  was  also  an  imprese  of  a  phoenix  in 
flames;  an  Apple  tree  growing  on  a  Thorn;  an 
arrow  passing  through  three  birds;  Caduceus  with 
two  flutes,  and  a  peacock ;  two  women  upon  the 
wheel  of  fortune,  one  of  these  (a  figure  of  peace 
with  a  cornucopia)  signified  Queen  Elizabeth ;  a 
pyramid  overgrown  with  Ivy;  a  ship  with  her 
mast  broken  and  fallen  in  the  sea ;  a  big  lion 
and  whelp ;  a  lion  in  a  net  with  hares  passing 
wantonly  over  him  ;  a  Palm  tree ;  a  bird  in  a  cage 
with  a  hawk  flying  about,  and  the  motto  “  ’Tis  ill 
with  me  now,  but  I  fear  worse  betides  me  ”  ;  a  tri¬ 
angle  with  the  sun  in  a  circle ;  a  porcupine  among 
rocks;  a  portcullis;  an  “  impresae  of  Henry  VIII”; 
one  of  the  Duke  of  Surrey  ;  the  Annunciation  ;  a 
tree  planted  in  a  churchyard  environed  with  dead 
men’s  bones ;  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon ;  a 
sword  cast  in  to  weigh  down  gold ;  a  Pine  tree 
watered  with  wine  ;  a  wheel  rolled  from  the  moun¬ 
tain  to  the  sea ;  a  heap  of  wings  and  feathers ;  a 
“  Trophie  upon  a  Tree  with  Mytres,  Crowns,  Hats, 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem 


169 


Masks,  Swords,  Books,  and  a  Woman  with  a  Vail 
about  her  eyes  or  muffled,  pointing  to  some  about 
her.” 

One  of  the  noblest  of  these  allegories  gave  three 
crowns,  two  below  and  one  above  in  the  sky.  The 
motto  was  “And  awaits  another,”  implying  that 
her  crowns  of  France  and  Scotland  would  be  ended 
with  a  crown  in  heaven. 

A  homely  but  most 
significant  design  showed 
the  plant  Camomile 
growing  in  a  garden;  the 
motto,  Fructus  calcata 
dat  amplos ,  —  Trampled 
upon,  she  gives  out 
greater  fragrance.  A 
panoply  of  war,  com¬ 
posed  of  helmets,  lances, 
pikes,  muskets,  cannon, 
had  the  motto,  Dabit 
Deus  bis  quoque  jinem ,  — 

God  can  put  an  end  to 
these  things. 

The  full  royal  arms 


Sun-dial  at  Adlington  Hall,  Cheshire, 
England. 


of  England,  Scotland,  and  France  “severally  by 
themselves  and  all  quartered  ”  appeared  in  every 
part  of  the  bed.  It  was  said  that  “  the  workman¬ 
ship  was  neatly  done  and  above  all  value.”  Nearly 
all  the  designs  bore  a  Latin  motto,  also  the  name 
and  title  of  the  person  or  event  in  politics  or  history 
signified  by  each  of  these  twenty-nine  Emblems. 
I  he  designs  for  these  embroidered  Emblems  were 


170  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

taken  from  various  books,  from  Whitney,  and  from 
Jovio’s  Design  of  Love ;  one  of  the  latter  was  “the 
Impressa  of  King  Francis  First,  a  salamander,  which 
signified  that  he  was  burning  with  love  for  the 
Queen  and  sought  the  flames.’ ’ 

This  wonderful  piece  of  needlework  might  well 
have  been  the  one  praised  by  the  Water  Poet  in  1640 
in  these  lines  :  — 

“Flowers,  Plants  and  Fishes,  Beasts,  Birds,  Flyes  and  Bees 
Hills,  Dales,  Plains,  Pastures,  Skies,  Seas,  Rivers,  Trees 
There’s  nothing  near  at  hand,  or  farthest  sought 
But  with  the  needle  may  be  shap’d  and  wrought; 

Moreover,  Posies  rare,  and  Anagrams, 

Signifique  searching  Sentences  from  Names, 

True  History  or  various  pleasant  Fiction 
In  sundry  colors  mixt,  with  art’s  commixion  ; 

All  in  Dimension  Ovals,  Squares  and  Rounds 
Art’s  life  included  within  Nature’s  bounds.” 

This  extraordinary  bed,  so  “curiously  wrought,” 
has  wholly  disappeared  ;  we  might  doubt  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  any  one  bedstead  holding  all  these  designs 
were  it  not  that  at  Hinckley  in  Leicester  there  is 
another  having  the  same  number  of  emblematical 
designs  and  “  Latin  mottoes  in  Capital  letters  con¬ 
spicuously  introduced.” 

I  have  no  lovelier  picture  in  my  mind  of  this  fair 
queen  —  and  she  is  often  pictured  before  me  in  my 
day-dreams  —  than  her  presence  as  she  sat  bending 
over  her  embroidery  frame,  needle  and  crewels  in 
hand,  steadily  working  upon  the  marvellous  cover¬ 
ing  of  this  great  bed  ;  working  through  the  long 
weary  hours  of  the  dark  winter  days  ;  working  at 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem 


i 


i 


i 


the  deep-recessed,  ill-lighted  windows  of  the  thick- 
walled  Scottish  castles  which  were  her  prisons ; 
working  at  the  slit-like  gun-windows  of  her  later 
dungeons  ;  working  by  the  scant  firelight  so  grudg¬ 
ingly  supplied  her;  working  by  the  dim  and  tiny 
cruisie  of  her  day,  or  by  waxen  tapers  ;  and  often 
working  with  that  wonderful  cheerfulness  which  seems 
to  have  been  God-given  to  her.  She  found,  I  trust, 
the  comfort  which  every  good  needlewoman  has  in 
doing  good  needlework. 


“Yet  howsoever  Sorrow  came  or  went 
She  made  the  needle  her  companion  still 
And  in  that  exercise  her  time  she  spent.” 


She  is  not  the  only  woman  who  has  turned  to  her 
needle  as  the  only  thing  which  could  occupy  and 
comfort  her  grief- 
filled  days.  I  have 
wondered  whether  in 
the  many  thoughts 
that  crowded  her  ever 
active  brain,  she  had 
no  illuminations  of  the 
future,  whether  she 
did  not  thus  work 
with  the  thought,  the 

1  ,  O  J 

hope, that  through  this 
needlework  she  could 
send  a  message  to  suc¬ 
ceeding  centuries,  that 


women,  certainly,  Sun_dial  in  lnner  Temple  Garden. 
would  understand.  London. 


172  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

It  was  certainly  natural  that  this  unhappy  crea¬ 
ture  should  turn  to  symbols  and  devices,  to  allego¬ 
ries  and  prophecies,  with  a  despairing  hope  of  a 
happy  end  to  all  her  troubles.  With  her  supersti¬ 
tious  nature  we  can  easily  believe  that  in  those 
symbols  she  both  rejoiced  and  trembled.  Her 
own  personal  devices  were  many  and  varied ;  all 
were  interesting.  After  the  death  of  her  boy-hus¬ 
band,  the  dauphin  of  France,  her  device  was  a 
Liquorice  plant ;  the  root  only  of  this  is  sweet, 
and  that  is  underground.  Her  motto  was  Dulce 
meum  terra  tegit ,  —  The  earth  covers  my  sweet  one. 
Another  was  a  vine  from  which  the  withered 
branches  are  being  pruned  by  a  hand  with  a  prun- 
ing-bill.  A  third  was  an  Apple  tree  growing  on  a 
thorn  ;  the  motto,  Per  vincula  crescit. 

In  the  family  archives  of  the  Earl  of  Leven  is  a 
letter  written  by  her  in  which  she  orders  embroidery 
materials  just  as  we  might  have  done  yesterday. 

a  Ye  shall  not  fail  to  send  with  this  bearer  to  me  a  half- 
ell  of  incarnatt  Satin,  and  a  half-ell  bleiv  Satin ;  also  more 
twined  silk  gif  there  rests  any,  and  sewing  silver  and  sew¬ 
ing  gold  ;  .  .  .  with  twa  ounce  black  sewing  silk.  .  .  . 
Ye  shall  cause  make  ane  dozen  of  raising  needles  and 
moulds  and  send  me.  And  speir  at  Sewals  gif  he  has  any 
other  covering  of  beds  to  me  nor  green.” 

After  she  received  these  materials  she  worked 
for  many  months  upon  a  magnificent  over-garment 
for  Queen  Elizabeth,  with  a  significant  design  ;  and 
showed  true  womanly  pleasure  when  it  was  finished 
and  despatched  with  a  letter  to  the  queen,  whose 


Obelisk-shaped  Dial  in  Garden  at  Linburn  House,  Midlothian 

Scotland. 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem 


J73 


faded  tawny  hair  would  ill  consort  with  the  carnation 
satin  when  compared  with  the  darker  locks  of  the 
Scottish  queen,  who,  I  doubt  not,  “  tried  it  on  ” 
again  and  again  in  process  of  making. 

Mary  received  from  another  source  four  hanks 
of  gold  thread  and  moulds  and  needles  for  “  rais¬ 
ing,”  which  was  the 
heavily  embossed  and 
difficult  embroidery 
much  in  vogue  in  her 
day.  A  splendid  screen 
of  her  “  raised  ”  work 
still  exists,  and  is  most 
valuable  as  a  record  of 
the  costumes  of  her 
day ;  every  detail  is 
given  ;  the  jewellery  is 
worked  in  satin-stitch 
with  glazed  yellow 
flaxen  thread  and  the 
pearls  are  tiny  knots. 

Fardingales,  rufl's,  and 
fans,  all  are  faithfully 
depicted.  The  drawing 
ot  the  figures  is  ani¬ 
mated  and  good.  Sir  Walter  Scott  thought  it 
represented  some  old  French  or  Italian  ballad  or 
romance;  while  Miss  Strickland  thought  it  pictured 
the  ill-fated  love  of  Mary  and  Darnley,  as  the 
gallant  knight  of  the  screen  seems  to  spring  from 
two  Marguerite  flowers,  which  apparently  typified 
the  two  queens,  Margaret  Tudor  and  Margaret 


174  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Lennox,  from  whom  Darnley  claimed  descent.  The 
woman’s  figure  wears  the  costume  of  Mary,  and 
bears  the  Rose  cognizance.  One  singular  and  inex¬ 
plicable  panel  shows  a  gentleman  seated  with  his  leg 
bound  and  stretched  on  a  block  and  about  to  be  cut 
off,  apparently  by  the  order  of  a  stern  queen  who 
stands  near,  while  other  ladies  of  the  court  turn 
away  in  horror.  Taylor  might  have  written  of  her 
instead  of  Katherine,  wife  of  Henry  VIII  :  — 


“  Although  a  Queen,  yet  she  her  days  did  passe 
In  working  with  the  Needle  curiously. 

As  in  the  Towre,  and  places  more  beside, 

Her  excellent  memorials  may  be  seen 
Whereby  the  Needle’s  prayse  is  dignified 
By  her  fair  ladies,  and  herself,  a  Queen.” 

The  tenderness  which  most  women  have  for  the 
history  of  this  unhappy  queen  comes  largely  through 
her  womanliness.  We  are  drawn  to  her  through  her 
instinct  in  womanly  doings.  She  took  great  pleasure 
in  gardening,  filling  the  gardens  at  Holyrood  with 
flowers  and  trees  from  France.  Two  beautiful  Plane 
trees  stood  till  this  century,  and  were  pointed  out  as 
her  trees.  Her  -sun-dial  was  removed  to  Fingask 
Castle  in  Perthshire.  Nothing  could  seem  so  close 
to  her  daily  life  as  this  sun-dial.  I  know  not  whether 
it  still  exists,  nor  what  it  was  like  ;  but  there  were 
beautiful  dials  in  Scotland  in  her  day. 

Other  English  women  adorned  their  closets  with 
embroidered  emblems  ;  forty-two  were  in  the  painted 
closet  of  Lady  Drury  at  Hemstead.  Samplers  were 
found  in  every  household,  the  work  of  every  house- 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  175 

wife,  of  every  woman-child  who  reached  the  age  of 
ten,  and  of  some  not  more  than  half  that  age.  Often 
they  have  an  imprese  or  a  family  crest.  They 
form  a  fascinating  example  of  domestic  Emblems. 
Whatever  women  could  do  with  their  needles  served 
to  perpetuate  Emblems,  for  their  imaginative  side  ap¬ 
pealed  to  a  woman’s  nature  ;  often  women  ordered 
the  erection  of  symbolistic  pillars  and  sun-dials. 

The  original  Emblem,  any  figure  or  ornament 
made  for  a  sun-dial  by  sculptor,  painter,  engraver, 
or  architect,  by  any  worker  in  stone,  metal,  or  wood, 
should  be  symbolized;  it  should  be  the  sign  or 
token  of  a  saying,  an  event, 
a  thought,  a  sentiment,  a 
fancy,  a  quality  of  the  mind 
or  heart, a  peculiarity  or  attri¬ 
bute  of  character,  any  abstract 
idea, — nay  more,  it  might 
mark  an  operation  of  the  soul. 

The  devices  of  heraldry  can 
aid  greatly  in  giving  the  his¬ 
tory  of  a  man,  a  family,  a 
race,  a  nation.  Many  crests 
and  coats  of  arms  are  truly 
emblematical ;  and  therefore 
heraldry  offers  an  infinite 
variety  of  suggestions  for  sun-dials.  I  here  were 
heraldic  devices  on  sun-dials,  and  sun-dials  were  used 
as  devices  in  heraldry.  The  Emblem  here  given 
is  of  special  interest  to  us  because  the  device  is 
a  sun-dial.  It  was  the  favorite  Emblem  ot  the 
gentle  and  neglected  wife  of  Henry  III  of  b  ranee, 


Emblem  of  Louise  de 
Valdemont. 


176  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Louise  of  Valdemont.  Above  the  sun-dial,  which 
is  on  a  pedestal,  shines  the  full-rayed  sun.  On  a  rib¬ 
bon  the  meek  motto,  Aspice  ut  aspiciar ,  —  Look  on 
me  that  I  may  be  looked  on. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney  also  had  a  sun-dial  as  his  per¬ 
sonal  emblem,  and  it  was  chosen  in  order  “  to 
acknowledge  his  essence  to  be  in  his  gracious  Sov¬ 
ereign  ” —  whatever  that  may  mean.  It  was  a  sun¬ 
dial  with  the  sun  setting ;  the  motto,  Occasu  defines 
esse.  Relying  upon  his  prince’s  favor,  he  devised 
the  sun  shining  upon  a  bush,  inscribed  Si  deferis 
pireo.  To  indicate  the  persistency  of  his  character, 
he  had  another  Emblem  representing  the  Caspian 
Sea,  which  never  ebbs  nor  flows,  and  the  motto  Sine 
Reflexa.  Another  rather  sacrilegious  device  showed 
his  love  for  his  fair  lady;  a  Venus  in  a  cloud  with 
the  motto  Salve  Me  Domina.  He  had  several  other 
impresses  to  signify  courage,  assiduity,  and  also  re¬ 
venge. 

Frederick  Cornaro,  Bishop  of  Padua,  had  as  a 
device  a  Rose  with  this  sun-dial  motto  :  Una  dies 
aperit ,  conficit  una  dies ,  —  One  day  opens,  one  day 
ends  it.  This  seems  to  me  perhaps  a  bit  fanciful 
for  a  sun-dial,  save  for  one  designed  especially  with 
the  thought  of  the  life  of  a  day  —  such  as  one  with 
a  floral  design. 

Another  personal  emblem  or  device  existed  from 
mediaeval  days,  and  was  known  as  a  badge.  A  crest 
differed  from  a  badge  in  that  the  former  was  worn 
only  on  the  helmet  and  by  its  proper  owner,  while 
the  badge  was  worn  by  followers  or  retainers,  and 
was  placed  on  the  sleeve  or  breast  of  the  body  gar- 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  177 

ment.  These  formal  badges  or  cognizants  often 
alluded  to  a  name,  an  estate,  an  office  of  honor,  or 
some  family  exploit,  a  deed  of  valor  or  of  rare  hap¬ 
pening,  or  an  escape  from  death  ;  they  glittered  on 
standards,  were  embroidered  on  the  dress  on  sleeve 
or  breast,  or  when  fashioned  in  metal  were  worn  on 
the  sleeve.  These  were  hereditary,  and  a  tew  are 


Washington  Sun-dial. 


still  retained  in  old  English  families  ;  among  them 
are  the  Stafford  knot  and  the  Pelham  buckle. 

The  introduction  of  a  coat-of-arms  or  crest  upon 
a  dial  gives  it  at  once  an  emblematic  value,  and  still 
more,  a  personal  value. 

On  this  page  is  shown  an  ancient  dial-face,  which 
is  ot  much  interest  to  all  patriotic  Americans,  because 


178  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

it  bears  a  dated  Washington  coat-of-arms,  which  is 
believed  to  have  furnished  the  notion  of  our  national 


Ancient  Cross  at  Great  Brington,  Northamptonshire. 


“  Stars  and  Stripes.”  This  dial  was  found  at  “  The 
Washington  House,”  Little  Brington,  Northampton¬ 
shire,  England.  It  is  a  circular  slab  of  sandstone 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  179 

sixteen  inches  in  diameter.  The  letters  R.  W.  can 
be  dimly  seen.  These  were  probably  the  initials  of 
Robert  Washington.  On  page  178  is  the  old  cross 
just  outside  the  churchyard  at  Great  Brington.  This 
may  once  have  held  a  dial.  Its  date  is  earlier  than 
1400.  The  ancestors  of  George  Washington  must 
have  passed  close  to  this  cross  every  time  they 
attended  church.  In  the  yard  of  the  rectory  of  this 
Great  Brington  church  stands  the  dial  shown  on  page 
18 1  ;  this  is  at  the  home  of  A.  L.  Y.  Morley,  Esq., 
the  faithful  antiquary  who  has  given  me  the  many 
sun-dials  from  Northamptonshire  which  are  shown 
in  this  book.  The  motto  on  his  dial  is  most  quaint. 

“Haste!  oh  Haste!  Thou  Sluggard,  Haste! 

The  Present  is  already  past.” 

It  was  natural  that  in  the  highest  forms  of  Em¬ 
blem  making  and  emblematic  writing  color  should 
take  an  important  part ;  it  did  so  directly  and  also 
in  some  occult  ways,  of  which  we  have  had  a  hint 
for  many  a  year.  In  1886  Arthur  Rembaults  put 
this  hint  into  verse  in  his  sonnet  about  the  colors 
of  vowels.  Novelty-seeking  French  folk  eagerly 
queried  to  other  French  folk,  as  though  asking  a 
conundrum,  “  What  colors  are  your  vowels  ?  ” 

“  A,  black  ;  E,  white  ;  I,  blue  ;  O,  red  ;  U,  yellow  ; 

But  purple  seeks  in  vain  its  vowel-fellow,” 

wrote  the  poet. 

Walter  Savage  Landor  had  such  a  profound  sense 
of  color  that  he  had  a  language  or  standard  for 
colors.  Purple  expressed  grandeur  of  thought; 


i8o  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

scarlet,  vigor  of  expression  ;  pink,  liveliness  ;  green, 
an  equable  composition.  I  have  long  had  another 
notion,  —  that  I  should  like  to  use  vari-colored 
printer’s  inks,  printing  certain  words  in  certain 
colors,  or  using  a  specially  symbolic  tint  for  a 
certain  chapter. 

We  can  remember  the  value  of  symbolic  color 
when  painting  sun-dials ;  as,  for  instance,  those  on 
the  wall  of  a  house.  In  continental  Europe  painted 
sun-dials  are  seen  constantly,  even  on  very  humble 
houses,  and  most  effective  and  interesting  they  are  ; 
they  might  well  be  adopted  on  country  houses  in 
America.  For  handsomer  mansions,  when  chosen 
with  thought  and  taste  and  fitted  to  the  style  of  the 
architecture  of  the  house,  a  painted  and  gilded  dial- 
face  has  many  advantages  over  a  carved  one.  It 
can  be  seen  more  distinctly  if  upon  the  high  wall 
of  a  house,  and  can  readily  be  kept  in  freshness.  I 
saw  recently  upon  a  half  timbered  house,  on  the  end 
of  a  gable,  a  painted  sun-dial  in  heraldic  colors  which 
seemed  to  me  the  perfection  of  good  taste.  Upon 
the  long  stables  of  an  English  country  house,  where 
the  original  timbering  and  external  beams  of  the 
early  barn  structure  have  been  carefully  carried  out, 
there  is  a  richly  painted  sun-dial  facing  each  point 
of  the  compass,  so  that  the  time  of  the  day  can 
readily  be  told  on  all  sides  by  farm  and  stable 
workers. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  any  object  or  any  deed 
which  has  or  has  had  a  symbolic  meaning  receives 
through  this  a  certain  charm,  a  charm  occult  and 
often  scarcely  formulated,  yet  nevertheless  present. 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem 


1 8 1 


This  subtle  interest  exists  in  very  commonplace 
objects;  we  feel  it  in  sign-boards,  in  sign-posts  or 
guide-boards;  let  us  see  why.  Whence  is  the  word 
sign  ?  Think  of  the  very  word,  and  you  have  the 
key  to  the  secret — and  to  the  interest.  I  never 
wearied  in  weeks  of  research 
about  sign-boards,  hanging 
signs,  for  my  book,  Stage- 
Coach  and  Tavern  Days ,  sim¬ 
ply  because  they  had  that 
inexplicable  charm.  I  never 
cease  to  feel  a  half-liking 
for  guide-boards,  which  are 
fast  disappearing  because 
useless  in  our  days  of  travel 
by  railroads  and  electric  cars. 

You  find  them  now  at  the 
angles  of  the 
road,  flat  in 
the  grass  and 
bushes,  or 
standing  twist¬ 
ed  askew,  point¬ 
ing  skyward  or 
nowhere.  Their 
very  place  at 
the  cross-roads 
has  a  significance,  what  or  whence  I  know  not, 
for  it  is  a  significance  of  “  forbidden.”  We  know 
that  in  our  country  even  in  the  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury  suicides  were  buried  at  the  cross-roads ; 
buried  in  the  years  preceding,  with  a  stake  through 


Sun-dial  in  Rectory  Garden,  Great  Brington, 
Northamptonshire. 


1 82  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

their  hearts  —  a  cruel  old  Dutch  and  English  law. 
Judge  Sewall  tells  of  the  public  obloquy  and  horror 
of  suicide  in  Massachusetts  in  colonial  days.  Under 
a  heap  of  stones  suicides  were  buried  at  night  in 
deepest  disgrace  ;  one  at  a  Connecticut  cross-roads 
thus  slept  in  ignominy  till  it  was  discovered  that 
the  poor  fellow  had  been  murdered. 

A  more  grotesque  sight  still  saw  the  old  New 
England  cross-roads  in  a  cc  shift-marriage,”  when  a 
widow,  “clad  only  in  her  shift,”  was  thus  married 
to  her  second  husband.  By  this  ordeal  she  was  freed 
from  liability  for  her  first  husband’s  debts.  This 
was  an  ancient  symbol,  derived  from  the  marriage 
investiture  of  the  Orientals.  In  Dutch  New  York 
a  widow  obtained  future  immunity  from  debt  by 
placing  a  key  or  a  straw  on  her  dead  husband’s  coffin 
and  then  taking  it  away.  The  use  of  a  straw  or  turf 
as  a  symbol  to  indicate  worldly  possessions  extended 
to  legal  transfers  —  when  real  estate  was  conveyed  by 
livery  of  seisin.  A  new  owner  was  given  corporal 
possession  by  transferring  to  him,  if  the  property  were 
a  house,  a  key  or  door-latch  ;  if  land,  a  turf  or  twig. 
It  formerly  accompanied  all  transfers.  The  word 
livery  in  its  many  symbolisms  forms  an  interesting 
word-study  ;  the  meaning  of  giving  possession,  and 
in  sequence,  the  delivery  itself.  Liveries  were  allow¬ 
ances  of  food,  clothing,  and  other  provisions,  as  in 
the  army,  or  to  a  great  family;  from  this,  keeping  on 
a  regular  allowance  as  applied  to  horses  only,  —  as  to 
keep  a  horse  at  livery;  also  a  second  meaning  of  an 
allowance  of  uniform  garments,  and  hence  a  regular 
dress  for  servants. 


The  Sun-dial  as  an  Emblem  183 

A  weather-vane  is  another  everyday  object  with  a 
halo  of  interest  as  a  symbol ;  the  cock  was  the  nat¬ 
ural  herald  of  the  day,  and  the  weathercock  now 
employed  to  show  “the  way  of  the  wind,”  was  origi¬ 
nally  a  sun  emblem.  In  the  symbolic  writing  of  the 
Chinese,  the  sun  is  represented  by  a  cock  in  a  circle. 
Beautiful  ancient  gems  exist,  —  some  are  in  the  pos¬ 
session  of  ancient  societies  of  Free  Masons,  —  cut 
with  the  figure  of  a  cock,  meaning  the  sun. 

All  symbolists  would  of  course  have  us  include 
in  these  objects  of  mysterious  influence  all  archi¬ 
tectural  erections  conspicuous  for  height  and  slen¬ 
derness,  such  as  obelisks,  steeples,  minarets,  tall 
towers,  and  upright  stones  and  monuments,  under 
the  assertion  that  they  represent  the  pyramidal 
forms  of  fire,  and  have  had  a  symbolic  meaning 
ever  since  the  days  of  the  fire-worshippers.  Cer¬ 
tainly  we  will  not  deny  that  they  have  a  strong 
influence;  the  tall  steeple  of  the  New  England 
meeting-house  doubtless  had  an  earlier  form  in  the 
“  reminding-stone,”  the  monuments  of  earlier  days. 
The  Bible  records  the  setting  up  of  monuments  by 
the  patriarchs.  Monoliths  are  known  of  in  all  early 
religions.  In  the  turreted  temples  of  the  Bhudds, 
in  the  fire-towers  of  the  Sikks,  in  the  spires  ot  the 
Hindoos,  in  the  flame-fanes  of  the  Parsees,  in  the 
pyramids  of  the  Egyptians,  we  find  testimony  to 
the  deification  of  fire.  Many  of  these  pyramidal 
forms  bear  emblems  of  sun-worship ;  some  bear 
sun-dials;  many  are  the  gnomons  of  sun-dials. 

In  writing  of  Emblems  we  have  to  resist  firmly 
constant  inclination  to  turn  into  side  paths  and  walk 


184  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


therein  gossiping  garrulously  ;  one  of  these  by-paths 
would  lead  us  to  write  at  length  of  the  symbolical 
language  of  mythology  and  of  ancient  art.  As  spe¬ 
cially  allied  to  the  subject  ol  sun-dials,  we  are  led 
to  learn  all  sun-lore;  to  know  of  sun-wors  hip,  of 
sun-tradition,  of  sun-influences  in  various  sciences, 
especially  medicine.  The  mystic  doctrines  of  ancient 
Greece  are  not  wholly  lost  in  daily  life  to-day.  These 
doctrines  were  conveyed  by  allegories  and  symbols 
which  had  a  character  of  sanctity.  Many  of  the 
emblems  of  these  mystical  religions  are  found  now 
in  our  Christian  churches.  Such  are  the  rose-window, 
the  altar  and  candles. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


SYMBOLIC  DESIGNS  FOR  SUN-DIALS 


“  How  beautiful  your  presence,  how  benign. 

Servants  of  God,  who  not  a  thought  will  share 
With  the  vain  world  ;  who  outwardly  as  bare 
As  winter  trees,  yield  no  fallacious  sign.” 

—  Eccle.iastical  Sketches,  XIX,  William  Wordsworth. 

HE  old  Emblem  writer,  Geof¬ 
frey  Whitney,  noted  with 
severity,  as  we  have  with 
sympathy,  that  readers  and 
on-lookers  weary  of  monot¬ 
ony  of  device:  “The  nature 
of  Man  is  alwaies  delighted 
in  nouelties  &  too  muche 
corrupte  with  curiousnes  and 
newfanglenes.”  Truly  we 
desire  and  need  “curiousnes  and  newfanglenes” 
in  sun-dials  as  in  all  things  else,  and  to  satisfy  that 
desire  I  shall  offer  in  this  chapter  some  suggestions 
for  novelty  as  well  as  significance  of  design  in  sun¬ 
dials. 

At  Ophir  Farm,  the  country  seat  of  Hon.  \\  hite- 
law  Reid,  there  stands  in  an  open  court,  near  the 
house,  a  sun-dial.  It  is  pictured  with  a  corner  of 

185 


1 86  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

the  castle-like  house  opposite  this  page.  The  dial  is 
set  upon  a  circle  of  brick  pavement  surrounded  by 
sentinel  trees  of  Japanese  Retinosporas.  It  is  not 
in  a  garden,  but  stands  rather  sombrely  alone,  with 
no  flowers,  no  creeping  vines,  no  neighbors  but  the 
solemn  trees.  It  is  fitting  that  it  should  thus  stand, 
for  it  is  an  emblematic  dial,  and  was  not  meant  to 
be  lightly  wreathed  and  garlanded,  nor  to  have  its 
significance  hidden.  The  dial-plate  rests  upon  a 
carefully  wrought  bronze  tortoise,  and  that  is  sup¬ 
ported  on  a  symmetrical  marble  pillar  which  bear  de¬ 
signs  of  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  in  wrought  bronze. 

The  design  of  a  tortoise  is  most  appropriate  for 
a  sun-dial.  The  myth  of  the  tortoise  is  world-wide. 
The  Hindoos  believe  that  a  great  tortoise  lies  beneath 
the  earth  on  his  back.  Earlier  is  the  notion  that  the 
earth  itself  is  a  tortoise  ;  the  flat  plate  on  the  belly 
of  the  tortoise  is  the  land,  and  the  sky  is  the  shell  of 
the  back. 

The  oldest  of  all  Chinese  pre-Confucian  books  is 
the  famous  Book  of  Changes.  It  contains  a  system 
of  philosophy  deduced  from  eight  hexagrams  which 
were  copied  from  the  lines  on  the  back  of  a  tortoise. 
Each  represents  some  great  power  in  nature,  as  fire, 
water,  earth,  etc.  It  is  also  regarded  as  a  calendar 
of  the  lunar  year.  So  important  are  the  lessons  of 
this  book,  so  great  is  its  wisdom,  that  Confucius 
declared  that  could  a  hundred  years  be  added  to  his 
life  he  would  devote  them  all  to  its  study. 

A  most  suitable  and  perhaps  the  most  dignified 
engraving  for  a  dial-face  is  a  chart  showing  the  lines 
of  latitude,  signs  of  the  zodiac,  etc.  Such  a  face  is, 


Sun-dial  at  Ophir  Farm,  White  Plains,  New  York:  Seat  of  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid. 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  187 

of  course,  a  costly  one,  as  the  drawing  must  be  made 
with  astronomical  precision  and  copied  by  a  skilled 
workman.  I  give  on  page  187  such  a  dial-face  from 


Dial-face  with  Lines  of  the  Zodiac.  Owned  by  Author. 

my  collection.  It  is  about  ten  inches  square,  of 
finest  workmanship,  dated  1812;  a  most  attractive 
piece  of  work.  The  dial  on  the  church  porch  at 


1 88 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Eyam  (facing  page  64)  shows  the  lines  of  the  tropics 
and  the  equinoctial. 

On  this  page  is  given  Captain  Bailey’s  fine  dial, 
which  tells  the  seasons.  This  dial  exhibits  beauti¬ 
fully,  not  only  the  comparative  obliquity  and  direct¬ 
ness  of  the  sun’s  light, 
which  is  the  primary 
cause  of  the  seasons,  but 
it  also  shows  the  rapidity 
of  what  in  nautical  terms 
is  called  the  sun’s  decli¬ 
nation  and  entry  into  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac.  As 
the  sun  gets  higher,  the 
dial’s  shadow  goes  down  ; 
then  it  crawls  from  Can¬ 
cer  up  through  Leo  and 
Virgo  to  Libra, and  so  on. 

The  signs  of  the  zodiac 
are  shown  in  bronze  on 
the  pedestal  of  Mr.  Reid’s 
dial.  Being  an  absolute 
symbol  of  the  progress  of 
time,  they  are  a  natural 
and  beautiful  emblem  for 
the  decoration  of  pedestal  as  well  as  dial-face,  and 
have  appeared  on  many.  Save  in  the  simplest  sym¬ 
bol  they  cannot  become  a  common  decoration,  as 
they  would  be  too  costly  a  one,  whether  cast  in  metal 
or  carved  in  wood  or  stone.  There  is  a  wide  range 
of  decorative  forms  to  choose  from,  and  many  of 
them  quaint  indeed.  They  ever  have  had  a  fascina- 


Captain  Bailey’s  Seasons’-dial. 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  189 

tion  for  me  since  my  childhood,  when  I  gazed  with 
bewildered  curiosity  upon  their  representation  in  old 
almanacs.  From  almanacs  more  ancient  than  those 
of  my  youthful  days,  many  hints  may  be  obtained 
for  sun-dial  designs.  We  can  scarcely  go  back  to 
Babylon  where,  2000  b.c.,  the  zodiac  was  formed ; 
but  one  of  the  oldest  drawings  of  the  zodiac  is  in  an 
astronomical  manuscript  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
in  the  Chetham  Library.  Each  month  has  a  picture 
medallion  as  a  device,  and  each  line  of  the  following 
verses  is  explanatory  of  the  device  of  month  :  — 

“Over  yis  fire  I  vvarme  myn  handes. 

Wyth  yis  spade  I  delve  myn  landes. 

Here  knitte  I  my  vynes  in  springe. 

So  merie  I  hear  yese  foulis  singe. 

I  am  as  joly  as  bird  on  bouz, 

Here  vvede  I  corn,  dene  I  houz. 

Wyth  yis  sythe  my  medis  I  mowe, 

Here  repe  I  myn  corn  so  lovve. 

Wyth  ys  flayl  I  yresche  my  bred. 

Here  sovve  I  my  whete  so  red. 

Wyth  ys  knyf  I  styk  my  svvyne. 

Welcome  Christmasse  wyth  Ale  and  Wyn.” 

These  spirited  verses  have  a  real  Chaucerian  ring ; 
and  it  amuses  me  to  see  that  the  spring  house¬ 
cleaning  is  not  a  Yankee  invention.  T  his  old  manu¬ 
script  contains  an  astrological  volvelle,  an  instrument 
mentioned  by  Chaucer.  It  has  seemed  strange  to 
me  to  be  able  to  buy  within  a  year  one  of  these 
astrological  volvelles,  made,  I  am  sure,  from  an¬ 
cient  patterns  in  evidence  since  Chaucer’s  day.  1  his 
old  manuscript  must  be  the  original  Farmer's  Alma¬ 
nac  ;  and  the  French  Kalendrier  des  Bergers  is  equally 


190  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

longeval.  I  may  be  permitted  to  gossip  a  bit  about 
almanacs  since  they  have  a  cousinship  with  sun-dials. 

Zodiacal  symbolism  was  conspicuous  in  mediaeval 
art.  Nearly  all  the  French  cathedrals  of  the  twelfth 
to  fourteenth  centuries  have  the  signs  of  the  zodiac 
painted  or  cut  on  their  gates.  Of  course  the  zodiac 
of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris  is  the  best  known.  Several 
English  churches  have  zodiacal  decoration,  some  be¬ 
ing  very  elaborate.  In  Padua  there  was  a  curious 
sun-dial  of  the  months,  wherein  the  sun’s  rays  struck 
in  turn  the  twelve  symbols,  which  were  painted  by 
Giotto.  The  superb  dial  on  the  Church  of  Our 
Lady  at  Munich,  with  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  is 
shown  in  this  book.  Our  modern  hieroglyphics 
representing  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  were  known  in 
the  tenth  century.  The  signs  of  the  zodiac  are  four 
thousand  years  old.  Those  of  the  Oriental  lands  — 
as  for  instance  the  zodiacal  signs  of  India  —  are 
beautiful  and  decorative  to  a  degree.  Let  us  remain 
on  our  own  continent,  and  take  the  calendar  of  the 
Aztecs,  and  we  at  once  have  a  wonderful  field  of 
beauty,  variety,  and  suggestion.  The  “age”  of  the 
Mexican  calendar  was  fifty-two  years;  this  was  com¬ 
posed  of  four  cycles,  each  of  thirteen  years.  The 
single  year  was  named  significantly  a  word  meaning 
new  grass.  The  cycles  were  designated  as  the  flint, 
rabbit,  cane,  and  house.  Nothing  could  be  more 
beautiful  or  appropriate  for  a  dial-face  than  the 
Mexican  representation  of  a  cycle  as  shown  on 
page  1 9 1 .  The  outer  edge  was  painted  with  an 
encircling  snake  holding  the  tip  of  its  tail  in  its 
mouth  and  having  a  twist  or  knot  in  its  body  at  each 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials 


191 

of  the  four  cardinal  points;  within  was  a  close  bor¬ 
der  of  the  four  cycle  symbols  each  recurring  thirteen 
times.  Within  this  were  the  signs  of  the  month. 

The  Aztec  symbol  for  the  year  and  the  month  is 
equally  beautiful  and  appropriate  ;  the  former  having 
in  the  centre  their  emblem  ot  the  sun,  with  a  strik¬ 
ing  border  of  the  designs  for  the  eighteen  months  ; 
while  the  Aztec 
month  was  di¬ 
vided  in  simi¬ 
lar  manner  into 
days.  These  are 
within  the  com¬ 
pass  of  any 
skilled  designer 
and  workman, 
either  in  brass¬ 
engraving  or 
stone-cutting.  A 
truly  glorious 
sun-dial,  one  of 
profound  his¬ 
toric  association 
and  of  exquisite 
made  by  adopting  the  design  of  the  Aztec  calendar- 
stone  dug  up  in  the  city  ot  Mexico  a  hundred  years 
ago,  and  so  eloquently  described  and  explained  by 
Gama,  see  page  193-  T  his  great  sun  stone  is  about 
nine  feet  in  diameter.  In  the  centre  is  a  drawing  of 
the  sun  as  usually  painted  by  the  Mexicans,  and  this 
is  surrounded  by  beautiful  hieroglyphics.  Ot  course 
the  careful  workmanship  of  this  remarkable  carving 


Aztec  Calendar. 

fitness  for  the  purpose,  might  be 


192  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

need  not  be  copied ;  but  the  suggestive  outlines 
and  general  shape  could  be  followed,  and  with  won¬ 
derful  effect.  As  every  line  of  this  Mexican  dial 
had  a  sun-meaning,  its  appropriateness  would  equal 
its  elegance.  The  Peruvians  had  similar  calendar- 
stones,  also  with  beautiful  decoration. 

It  will  doubtless  be  offered  as  demur  against  the 
use  of  these  Aztec  designs  the  fact  that  they  would 
be  costly.  They  certainly  would  be  when  hand- 
wrought  in  stone  or  metal  for  a  pillar-dial,  and  the 
pedestal  would  be  costly,  too.  But  simpler  materials 
may  be  used  ;  the  Aztec  symbols  can  be  employed 
for  a  vertical  dial,  they  can  be  painted  in  colors  on 
wood.  For  the  wall  of  a  summer-house  or  as  the 
decoration  on  any  outbuilding,  such  as  stable,  barn, 
granary,  storehouse,  I  think  this  Aztec  sun-dial 
would  be  strikingly  ornamental.  And  any  object 
that  has  a  story,  just  in  that  is  satisfying. 

The  earliest-known  symbol  in  the  world,  the 
widest-known  symbol,  and,  I  think,  the  most 
fascinating  symbol  is  the  swastika.  Extended  and 
varied  is  its  bibliography.  The  most  accurate  ac¬ 
count  of  it  is  the  monograph  of  several  hundred 
pages  prepared  and  printed  for  the  National  Museum 
at  Washington.  Of  this  I  must  tell  that  it  was  sent 
me  by  an  enthusiastic  man  of  science,  who  wrote, 
“  I  believe  we  have  here  every  existing  exponent  of 
the  swastika  in  the  known  world.”  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  sending  to  him,  in  a  few  hours  after  the 
receipt  of  his  letter,  a  domestic  swastika  which  was 
not  included  in  the  book :  a  square  of  an  old  patch- 
work  quilt ;  an  everyday  design  found  in  old  farm- 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  193 


houses  in  New  England,  where  it  is  named,  in  a 
triumph  of  irrelevance,  Bonaparte’s  Walk. 

Great  speculation  has  been  made  over  the  rela¬ 
tion  between  the  swastika  and  the  sun,  because  the 


Aztec  Calendar-stone. 


two  signs  have  been  associated  by  primitive  peoples. 
The  sun-symbols  of  the  bronze  age  were  the 
swastika,  the  ring-cross,  the  wheel-cross,  indicat¬ 
ing  the  sun-car  ;  the  triskele  or  three-armed  cross  ; 
the  S-shape  or  sun-snake  ;  in  Egypt,  the  sun-ship. 


o 


194  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

In  the  Kensington  Museum  is  a  large  bronze  trum¬ 
pet  found  in  a  bog  in  Wismar,  Germany,  near  the 
Baltic  Sea.  It  may  have  been  used  in  sun-worship, 
tor  it  is  covered  with  borders  and  ornaments  com¬ 
posed  of  these  sun-symbols. 

I  would  employ  as  a  beautifully  symbolic  decora¬ 
tion  fora  sun-dial  the  sun-signs  of  this  Wismar  horn. 
They  are  simple  ;  and  could  easily  be  stamped  with 
a  die,  or  cut  in  stone  or  metal  by  a  very  plain  work¬ 
man.  It  would  be  a  pretty  design  and  a  meaning 
one,  and  would  serve  for  pedestal  and  dial-face. 
The  swastika  alone  would  serve  as  a  suitable  decora¬ 
tion  in  all  its  varying  forms.  I  offer  this  as  a  sug¬ 
gestion  to  some  Arts  and  Crafts  Society,  that  they 
employ  their  prentice-hands  in  making  a  line  of 
inexpensive  sun-dials  decorated  with  the  sign  of  the 
swastika.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book  to 
introduce  dial  designs  ;  but  the  lack  of  originality, 
or  rather  the  lack  of  notions  of  adaptation,  in  nearly 
all  our  dial  designs  is  really  surprising.  Lack  of 
design  !  why  I  can  think  of  half  a  dozen  notions 
for  decoration  and  design  as  I  sit  here  writing. 

A  study  of  the  symbolism  and  mythology  of  the 
aboriginal  races  of  the  new  world  affords  ample 
evidence  of  the  appropriateness  of  their  word-pictures, 
hieroglyphics,  and  sculptures  as  designs  for  sun-dials. 
These  evidences  cannot  even  be  named.  The  real 
being  of  the  sun-dial  is,  of  course,  based  upon  the 
cardinal  points,  the  progress  of  the  sun,  light  and 
shade.  Among  the  red  men  the  adoration  of  the 
cardinal  points  was  universal ;  so  deep  was  this  adora¬ 
tion,  this  familiarity,  that  the  Indian  ever  had  the 


PS 


Of &f?ouun»  fetus  mW  (yru&rama 

v>t^b'  hi  ftufirffi  (|ut8  dfo  ct  unit  upob 
bimt  (nftjtputtttjuf  Sutunur  CrpfKmc 


tfc&cBthtctpaptCi  Ijmo  runs  mr 

jftumrinfi  nkrts  to  oim  tpcflcccg 
rjMt  pmu  burn  qt  too  tiu  '.uar'mtu 
Y~}'mr  ctnou  fids  qsucfho  utumitfc 


Seven  Ages  of  Man.  From  Ancient  Block  Print. 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  195 

points  of  the  compass  present  in  his  own  mind,  and 
upon  his  tongue  as  well.  His  very  existence  as  a 
hunter  depended  upon  this  knowledge.  When  his 
slow  progress  had  brought  him  in  the  secrets  of  nature 
from  the  motions  of  the  sun  to  the  radicals  of  arith¬ 
metic,  he  took  all  knowledge  as  proofs  of  the  sacred¬ 
ness  of  the  four  cardinal  points.  The  world  of  the 
Mexicans  was  also  to  them  a  square  world,  literally 
hung  up  by  cords  at  the  sides,  they  thought ;  the 
ancient  cities  of  Mexico,  Quito,  and  others  were 
equally  quartered;  their  palaces  were  all  square. 

Their  temples  were  built  with  as  due  regard  for 
the  exact  point  of  the  compass  as  were  the  churches 
of  old  England  or  the  farm-houses  ot  old  New 
England.  The  government  form  was  quadruplicate. 
The  Inca  was  lord  of  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth.  Possession  was  taken  by  throwing  a  stone 
or  a  fire-brand  to  each  of  the  cardinal  points.  Study 
any  faithful  pictures  of  Indians,  and  see  the  ceaseless 
reiteration  of  the  number  four  and  the  cardinal 
points.  In  many  of  the  picture-writings  even  the 
days  of  the  week  are  placed  north,  south,  east,  and 
west.  The  four  yearly  festivals  of  the  Aztecs  and 
Peruvians,  their  four  points,  their  invocation  of  the 
cardinal  points,  their  mourning  for  four  years,  their 
four  ancestors,  their  four  worlds  and  four  ages,  —  I 
could  multiply  these  examples.  The  four  gods  of 
the  winds  were  called  upon  by  them  as  did  the 
prophet  Ezekiel  call  on  the  four  winds  in  the  Bible, 
as  still  do  the  Thibetans,  the  Chinese,  the  Parsees, 
the  Brahmins. 

The  veneration  of  the  cardinal  points  familiarized 


196  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


these  races  with  the  symbol,  which,  beyond  all  others, 
has  fascinated  the  human  mind  apart  from  its  reli¬ 
gious  significance, —  the  cross.  The  missionaries 
of  the  Church  of  Rome  did  not  bring  the  cross 
to  America ;  they  found  the  races  of  the  new  world 
employing  the  cross  as  an  ancient  emblem.  In 
rain  invocations,  in  fire-making,  in  mound-building, 
in  many  times  and  places,  the  cross  was  used,  ever 
pointing  each  arm  to  one  of  the  cardinal  points  of 
the  compass. 

All  these  things  prove  to  us,  as  do  hundreds  of 
other  examples,  the  dignity  of  simple  numbers  and 
the  honored  place  of  mathematics,  —  of  dialling, 
among  other  branches  ;  and  also  show  the  absolute 
truth  of  Kepler’s  saying  that  the  universe  is  an  har¬ 
monious  whole,  and  that  numbers,  like  all  nature,  are 
in  unison  with  the  mysteries  of  religion.  The  beauty 
of  numbers  is  not  revealed  to  all ;  favored  souls 
like  Frankenstein  perceive  it  everywhere  in  nature, 
find  the  world  filled  with  wonderful  and  beautiful 
forms.  Had  he  lived  to  tell  us  how  to  see ,  we,  too, 
might  find  beauty  where  now  is  naught  but  unmean¬ 
ing  lines.  His  discovery  of  the  universal  principle 
of  pure  mathematics,  his  magic  reciprocals  and  har¬ 
monic  responses,  partake  of  the  charm  of  magic 
rather  than  of  mathematics. 

The  Shakespeare  lover  will  find  in  the  pages  of 
the  dramatist  infinite  variety  of  suggestion  for  dial 
design  as  for  dial  motto.  None  could  be  more 
fitting  than  the  “seven  ages  of  man.”  I  should,  for 
a  dial,  take  none  of  the  finished  fancies  of  modern 
sculptors  and  painters,  but  some  of  the  cruder 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials 


197 


notions  of  earlier  days,  such,  for  instance,  as  a  large 
block-print  in  the  British  Museum  (facing  page 
194).  Every  line  of  this  is  significant  and  every 
word. 

The  verses  should  be  read  across  the  page.  They 
are  but  doggerel  Latin.  The  stages  of  man’s  life 
have  been  divided  into  ten  in  ancient  manuscripts; 


Four  Seasons’  Dial-face. 


but  Hippocrates  (460—357  b.c.)  anc^  Prod  us  (412- 
485  a. d.)  made  seven  ages.  A  mosaic  on  the  pave¬ 
ment  of  the  cathedral  at  Siena,  supposed  to  have 
been  laid  in  1476,  gives  seven  ages.  1  his  block- 
print  is  believed  to  be  older  still. 

The  four  seasons  offer  naturally  suggestions  tor 
a  dial-face.  These  are  known  to  many  nations,  and 
the  crude  symbolism  can  be  made  to  fit  a  dial-face  in 


1 98  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


quaint  form.  This  fine  dial-face  with  the  designs  of 
four  seasons  is  made  by  F.  Barker  &  Son,  London. 

As  four  figures  supporting  a  pedestal,  the  Sea¬ 
sons  are  seen  on  the  dial  at  Wroxton  Abbey,  Ox¬ 
fordshire. 

The  figure  of 
Father  Time  bearing 
the  dial  is  significant, 
and  has  been  often 
employed  on  vertical 
dials, on  window-dials, 
and  also  cast  in  lead 
or  bronze,  or  carved 
in  marble  for  garden- 
dials.  Here  is  one 
of  Time  and  Cupid 
cut  in  stone.  Real 
passing  of  Time  has 
had  its  effect  on  the 
faces,  as  on  human 
faces,  which  are  now 
grotesque  instead  of 
roguish  and  severe. 

Among  the  “  Naturall  ”  sources  of  emblematic 
design  for  sun-dials,  and  especially  for  garden-dials, 
no  more  delightful  or  well-filled  stores  can  be  found 
than  in  the  botanic  world.  This  might  be  in  the 
direct  application  of  conventionalized  ornament  from 
a  single  plant,  —  the  seed,  root,  stem,  leaf,  and  flower 
could  all  afford  detail  which  would  indicate  the  life 
of  a  flower  for  a  year.  The  Lotus  designs  offer  an 
already  worked  out  and  thoroughly  finished  scheme 


Sun-dial  at  Belton  House,  Lincoln¬ 
shire  ;  Seat  of  Earl  Brownlow. 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  199 

of  emblematic  decoration.  From  this  is  an  easy 
step  to  flower  language.  A  sun-dial  might  have  a 
floral  design  which  readily  could  speak  in  the  words 
of  old  Dr.  Donne  in  his  Elegie :  — 

“  In  these  the  alphabet 
Of  flowers  ;  how  they  devisedly  being  set 
And  bound  up,  might  with  speechless  secrecy 
Deliver  errands  mutely  and  mutually.” 

Leigh  Hunt  wrote,  with  his  customary  lightness 
of  touch,  of 

“  Saying  all  one  feels  and  thinks 
In  clever  daffodils  and  pinks ; 

In  puns  of  tulips;  and  in  phrases 
Charming  for  their  truth,  of  daisies 
Uttering  as  well  as  silence  may. 

The  sweetest  words  the  sweetest  way.” 

The  maidens  of  Hindoo  and  Persian  races  can 
easily  interpret  messages  of  love  indicated  by  flowers, 
and  other  messages  can  be  conveyed  with  equal 
exactness.  There  was  a  day  in  France  when  a 
springing  Violet  set  at  the  hour  of  dawn  on  a  dial’s 
face  would  read,  “  Another  morn  will  bring  to  us 
Napoleon  again  !  ”  and  floral  decoration  might  be 
chosen  that  would  speak  in  full  the  lesson  of  the 
sun-dial  as  we  each  interpret  it.  Messrs.  F.  Barker 
&  Son  of  London  have  an  ornate  dial-face  show¬ 
ing  a  flower  for  each  month  of  the  year. 

An  intimate  study  of  the  floral  art  of  Japan 
would  afford  many  suggestions  for  the  floral  design 
on  a  sun-dial,  not  only  a  study  of  one  flower,  but 
its  grouping  with  other  flowers  and  leaves,  its  man- 


200  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

ner  of  growth,  its  age,  its  fixed  position,  and  its 
formal  signification,  —  all  would  have  bearing.  Jap¬ 
anesque  lines  of  great  simplicity  could  be  used  for 
the  pedestal.  I  can  fancy  the  distinction  of  such  a 
sun-dial  set  in  an  Iris  garden  or  in  front  of  a  Wistaria 
arbor. 


Floral  Dial-face.  F.  Barker  &  Son,  London. 


In  the  choice  of  a  plant  for  supplying  decorative 
motives  for  a  sun-dial  in  our  own  country,  I  have  a 
fancy  for  native  American  plants.  Many  of  our  com¬ 
mon  flowers  offer  fine  forms  for  conventionalized 
ornament.  Let  me  glance  from  my  window  and 
choose  at  random  from  the  borders  of  old-fashioned 
flowers.  Many  which  we  fancy  are  native  came,  we 
discover,  from  the  Orient ;  but  here  is  one  whose 
name  tells  a  tale  of  American  nativity,  while  the 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  201 

plant  offers  also  suitable  forms  for  our  use.  It  is 
the  Spiderwort,  —  Tradescantia  Virginica ,  —  interest¬ 
ing  in  our  early  history  as  being  one  of  the  first  of 
our  plants  to  find  a  home  in  England,  being  carried 
there  from  Virginia  by  the  botanical  explorer,  Tra- 
descant,  before  1629.  The  plant  perpetuates  his 
name  and  that  of  his  father,  “  an  ingenious  curious 
gardener”  to  Charles  I. 

The  pretty  French  name  is  Ephemerie  de  Virginie. 
It  has  a  peculiar  fitness  for  a  sun-dial  decoration  since 
the  flowers  open  only  in  the  daytime,  and  for  a 
single  day.  The  flowering  of  this  plant  is  of  great 
scientific  beauty  and  perfection;  the  buds  in  the  umbel 
hang  down,  are  gracefully  recurved;  but  just  before 
the  flower  opens  in  the  morning  sun  they  stand  erect, 
and  when  the  flower  fades,  the  withered  flower  and 
seeds  once  more  bend  down.  This  should  be  the 
motive  in  the  hour  markings,  and  can  be  exquisitely 
carried  out.  Under  a  magnifying  glass  the  plant  has 
additional  beauty  in  the  delicate  stamens  clothed 
in  silky  fibres  and  the  gracefully  poised  anther; 
these  offer  lines  for  the  gnomon.  It  is  such  a 
cheerful,  sensible  plant  in  real  life;  never  greedily 
spreading  though  perfectly  hardy,  living  happily 
either  in  damp  or  arid  ground  ;  it  needs  no  care, 
but  sturdily  opens  its  cheerful  blue  or  white  blos¬ 
soms  both  in  our  old  gardens  and  in  many  a  wild 
location.  It  has  scant  medicinal  qualities  in  spite 
of  its  name,  and  a  belief  that  it  would  cure  the  bite 
“  of  that  Great  Spider,”  an  imaginary  creature  of 
the  old  herbalists.  I  was  always  told  as  a  child  that 
the  plant  was  called  Spiderwort  because  the  sharply 


202  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

bent  grassy  leaves  resembled  a  spider’s  legs,  which 
they  certainly  do  ;  they  can  be  modelled  in  conven¬ 
tional  forms  for  the  dial  pedestal,  to  give  an  effect 
of  great  stability. 

An  ancient  writer,  Guillim,  says  of  the  Colum¬ 
bine,  “  ’Tis  pleasing  to  the  eye  in  respect  of  its 
seemly  shape.”  Its  seemly  shape  and  the  fact  that 
it  is  a  native  American  plant  make  it  also  suitable 
for  the  decoration  of  a  sun-dial.  Any  study  of  its 
growth,  the  form  of  sepals,  petals,  stamens,  will  afford 
ample  suggestions  for  design. 

I  find  that  a  true  love  of  flowers  is  in  general  allied 
to  a  love  for  the  philological  derivation  of  the  plant 
name,  and  at  any  rate  with  a  desire  to  know  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  plant.  Of  course  I  have  a  special  interest 
in  the  Tulip  because  I  knew  it  in  Persia  when  I 
lived  there  in  my  first  incarnation  in  that  land  of 
sunlight  and  flowers. 

Many  books  have  been  written  upon  Roses  and 
Lilies.  There  is  a  Daffodil  book,  a  Crocus  book, 
but  none  on  the  Tulip,  though  it  has  had  a  his¬ 
tory  worthy  of  extended  record,  —  a  more  varied  and 
extended  history,  indeed,  than  has  the  Daffodil. 
But  the  Tulip,  though  admired  by  all  —  by  nearly 
all  —  and  certainly  beloved  of  the  Dutch  people, 
is  not  a  flower  of  sentiment,  as  is  the  Rose,  the 
Daffodil,  the  Lilac,  the  Pansy.  The  Dutch  people 
showed  their  admiration  for  the  Tulip  in  many 
ways  subordinate  to  the  incontrovertible  one  of 
placing  their  liking  on  a  moneyed  basis ;  they 
used  it  as  the  chief  of  decorative  work  whether  in 
woodwork,  pottery,  painting,  or  embroidery.  The 


Sun-dial  in  Yard  of  Friends’  Meeting-house,  Germantown 

Pennsylvania. 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  203 

Tulip  is  a  curious  design,  not  only  in  the  elaborate 
crewel  embroidery  of  bed-hangings  and  petticoats, 
but  in  quilts  of  patchwork  piecing,  in  homespun 
and  home-woven  bed  coverlets  of  linen  and  wool, 
and  also  in  a  curious  knitted  stitch  used  in  counter¬ 
panes,  bed  valances,  and  the  like.  The  Tulip  was 
as  omnipresent  in  worsted  and  metal  within  Dutch 
doors  as  it  flaunted  in  scarlet  and  yellow  bloom  in 
Dutch  borders.  It  was  seen  in  Dutch  metal  work, 
stamped  in  brass,  and  wrought  in  iron ;  and  I  have 
a  pewter  teapot  incised  with  a  Dutch  motto  and 
Tulip  design. 

Among  the  people  of  German  extraction  known 
commonly  as  “  Pennsylvania  Dutch,”  the  Tulip  held 
as  honored  a  place  as  in  Holland  itself.  On  the  iron 
fire-back  of  the  open  chimney,  on  the  tiles  of  the 
close  stove,  the  Tulip  design  was  ever  found.  Scant 
petalled  Tulips  sprung  up  around  the  sturdy  four- 
poster,  the  family  bed  ;  they  twined  like  a  vine  around 
these  posts  defying  all  rules  of  botany.  They  were 
carved  on  the  wooden  bowls  and  spoons ;  even  the 
wooden  shoes  bore  a  carved  Tulip  as  a  tulipette,  just 
as  the  silken  shoe  of  the  English  maid  bore  a  silk 
and  lace  rosette.  Here  is  a  busk  carved  by  a  sturdy 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  lover;  no  amorous  hearts  and 
darts,  no  silly  love-knots,  garland  this  fierce  bar  of 
wood.  The  Tulip  had  a  better  significance  for  both 
man  and  maid.  And  her  linen  apron,  an  apron  of 
strong  homespun  linen,  wears  a  band  in  red  and  blue 
crewels  embroidered  ;  not  in  Rosebuds  or  Lilies  of 
the  Valley,  like  this  pretty  and  frail  India  muslin 
trumpery  of  English  Cicely  ;  but  here,  again,  is  a 


204 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Honestone  Dial-face  from  Saxony,  with  Coats-of-arms.  Date,  1760. 

Owned  by  Author. 

goodly  red  Tulip  with  blue  and  yellow  leaves  spring¬ 
ing  from  the  apron’s  hem.  Truly  —  to  paraphrase 
an  English  rhymster,  — 

“  Her  long  slit  Sleeves,  stiff  Buske,  Puffed  Verdingale 
With  Tulips  thus  make  her  Angelicall.” 

Tulips  of  more  graceful  form  were  wrought  in  the 
clasps  of  the  neck-chains  and  chatelaines  of  silver 


Symbolic  Designs  for  Sun-dials  205 

worn  by  the  goodwives  of  these  Pennsylvania  settlers, 
as  they  rode  to  the  Sunday  services  of  their  curious 
sectaries,  or  chatted  on  their  neighbors’  “  stoops  ”  on 
Saturday  night.  I  have  seen  a  chatelaine  key  bag, 
and  keys  all  wrought  with  a  stiff  Tulip  design.  And 
the  clasps  of  Bible  and  hymn-book  which  sometimes 
hung  on  these  silver  chains  bore  also  a  design  of 
Cross  and  Tulip,  which  was  a  prime  favorite. 

Of  the  “  Three  R’s  ”  of  an  ordinary  education  in 
colonial  times,  writing  was  ever  the  most  esteemed, 
the  most  imperative  ;  and  in  general  penmanship  was 
fine.  To  write  ill  was  deemed  a  disgrace.  Spelling 
was  rampantly  varied,  but  writing  must  be  good. 
It  was  easy  to  write  with  elegance  with  a  quill  pen, 
and  whether  elegant  or  inelegant  in  its  results,  there 
was  a  still  greater  value  :  never,  so  it  is  asserted,  does 
he  who  writes  with  a  quill  pen  have  that  dread  disease 
of  the  nerves,  writers’  cramp.  1  may  add,  in  pass¬ 
ing,  another  assertion  as  to  writers’  cramp:  the  con¬ 
stant  employment  of  a  lead  pencil  in  writing  will 
help  sadly  to  produce  that  distressing  affliction. 

Now  from  all  this  infinite  variety  of  Tulip  design 
there  is  certainly  ample  choice  for  sun-dial  decora¬ 
tion  and  form,  and  had  I  time  for  the  doing  of  it, 
L  know  I  could  shape  out  a  Tulip  sun-dial  which 
would  be  perfect  in  a  Dutch  garden.  It  should  not 
too  closely  resemble  the  Tulips  all  a-row  around  it, 
for  that  were  tiresome;  but  the  severe  and  scant 
lines  of  the  dial  pedestal  should  be  the  long  grass 
lines  of  the  Tulip  leaves,  and  the  dial-head  should 
open  to  show  somewhat  of  a  Tulip  face. 


CHAPTER  IX 


PEDESTALS  AND  GNOMONS 

“  A  well-built  marble  pyramid  doth  stand 

By  which  spectators  know  the  time  o’  the  day 
From  beams  reflecting  of  the  solar  ray  ; 

The  basis  with  ascending  steps  is  graced.” 

—  The  Humours  of  Co'vent  Garden,  /yjS. 

“  The  style  is  of  iron,  time  is  golden. 

It  passes  by  like  a  shadow  and  returns  not.” 

—  Translation  of  Italian  Sun-dial  Motto. 

MONG  materials  for  the 
making  of  dial  pedestals, 
“  many  are  called,  but  few 
are  chosen.”  There  are  many 
other  as  suitable  materials 
as  wood  and  common  gran¬ 
ite.  White  marble  is  ever 
good  in  a  garden  when  of 
moderate  bulk,  and  of  limit 
■  also  in  the  number  of  pieces  shown.  As  the  first 
qualification  is  conformed  to  in  a  sun-dial,  we  need 
only  add  that  white  marble  is  ever  good  for  a  dial 
pedestal  if  of  careful  and  classic  design.  The  colored 
marbles  of  many  lands  afford  a  wonderful  choice; 
the  least  eccentric  of  these  make  the  finest  pedestals, 
nor  should  varied  marbles  be  seen  in  one  pedestal, 

206 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


207 


unless  of  well-studied  effect  and  for  special  purpose. 
There  is  ample  color  in  the  garden  without  adding 
bizarre  effects  in  colored  marble.  There  are  charm¬ 
ing  Mexican  marbles,  not  the  onyx  of  upholsterers’ 
choice,  but  red  shaded 
marbles  of  wonderful 
veining.  Many  of  our 
states  have  individual 
granites.  The  exquisite 
Spanish  pink  tint  of 
natural  alabaster  is  beau¬ 
tiful  ;  but  I  fear  that 
stone  is  too  frail  for 
out-door  exposure  in 
our  climate.  An  exqui¬ 
site  sun-dial  pillar  could 
be  cut  from  the  richly 
tinted  cream  -  colored 
sandstone  of  Ottawa, 
which  is  used  to  such 
effect  in  the  magnificent 
H  ouses  of  Parliament 
in  Ottawa.  The  beauti¬ 
ful  warm  red  Potsdam 
and  Ohio  freestone 
which  forms  the  adorn¬ 
ment  of  these  houses  is 
a  glorious  stone  for  a  sun-dial ;  it  is  an  allied  tint 
to  the  natural  alabaster.  Those  who  have  seen  the 
perfect  towers  and  buttresses  and  pinnacles  of  the 
Government  Houses  shining  in  the  true  golden  light 
of  sunset  know  that  heaven  and  earth  lie  very  close 


Simple  Dial  in  a  Worcester  Garden. 


2o8  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


together  at  such  hours.  With  a  background  of 
greenery,  and  a  choice  close  setting  of  dwarf  Azalias 
around  the  pedestal,  chosen  with  care,  in  precisely 

true  sandstone  and 
freestone  tints  a 
bit  accented ,  these 
would  in  the  blos¬ 
soming  give  a  color 
study  of  great  won¬ 
der  and  beauty. 
And  I  should  like 
to  see  this  sun-dial 
in  winter  glowing 
in  buff  and  sal¬ 
mon  and  terra-cotta 
lines,  like  a  great 
tinted  flower, 
against  its  ever¬ 
green  background. 

The  ceramic  art 
offers  pedestals  for 
sun-dials.  I  have 
seen  them  of  terra¬ 
cotta  which  were 
satisfactory,  though 
many  are  too  or- 

Terra-cotta  Pillar.  J  .  . 

nate.  A  very  good 
one,  made  by  Messrs.  F.  Barker  &  Son,  London,  is 
on  this  page.  They  can  be  made  of  pottery,  both 
pedestal  and  dial-face,  and  several  such  have  been 
made  in  our  better  potteries,  with  garden  seats  of  cor¬ 
responding  design.  Mr.  H.  R.  Mitchell  of  Haddon- 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


209 


field,  New  Jersey,  makes  a  very  good  blue  and  gray 
stoneware  dial-face.  I  have  also  seen  Chinese  vases 
and  garden  seats  transformed  into  dial-pillars,  but  they 
have  in  general  rather  a  make-shift  air.  A  pretty  one 
at  Floral  Park  is  shown  on  one  page  of  this  book. 

Of  course  a  dial  may  be  set  upon  a  wooden  post 
thrust  in  the  ground,  but  that  forms  a  pedestal  of 
but  shaky  position  ;  a  sawed  off  tree-stump  is  far 
better ;  for  the  dial-face  must  be  exactly  horizontal 
to  be  of  use.  A  properly  set  dial  is  built  upon  a 
firm  foundation  —  preferably  of  brick  laid  below  the 
frost-line  —  and  the  dial-face  should  be  set  by  spirit- 
level.  The  smoothing  off  of  a  level  face  on  the  upper 
side  of  a  boulder  gives  a  substantial  plane  for  the 
dial  to  be  fastened  to  ;  and  if  the  boulder  is  shaped 
right,  it  is  a  very  good  dial  foundation. 

“All  clean  and  bare  the  stones  look  now,  some  light,  some  dark. 
As  year  by  year  goes  by,  lichens  will  slowly  dot 
And  drape  them  in  soft  tints  ;  beside  them  shrubs  will  grow,  — 
The  barberry  and  sweet  wild  rose  ;  its  shiny  leaves 
The  ivy  climbing  o’er  it  will  display  ; 

The  clematis  its  silver  floss.” 

A  column  laid  up  of  cobble  stones  in  mortar  offers 
a  substantial  and  permanent  plane  also  ;  and  if  a  few 
lightly  clinging  creepers  be  trained  over  it,  or  rarely 
the  closely  clinging  Japanese  Ivy,  it  can  be  made 
very  effective.  In  all  these  dial  pedestals  the  great 
striving  should  be  to  look  and  to  be  firm  without 
being  clumsy.  One  of  good  effect  is  shown  on  page 
210.  It  is  in  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Henry  T.  Coates’ 
residence  at  Berwyn,  Pennsylvania.  Another  on  a 
mound  of  stones  is  shown  on  page  21 1.  This  is  at 


aio  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Sun-dial  and  Residence  of  Henry  T.  Coates,  Esq.,  Berwyn, 

Pennsylvania. 


the  residence  of  Mr.  H.  R.  Mitchell,  at  Haddon- 
field,  New  Jersey. 

I  would  never,  however,  when  the  dial-pillar  is 
fine  of  design,  plant  any  close-growing  creeper  that 
would  hide  its  beauty;  above  all,  the  Japanese  Ivy, 
which  is  the  English  sparrow  of  flowers.  Where  it 
is  made  welcome,  other  creepers  are  crowded  out. 

Sometimes  an  absolutely  plain  shaft  gives  great 
dignity  to  a  sun-dial.  Such  simple  pedestals  seem 
particularly  fitting  for  country  churchyards  and  burial- 
places  ;  nor  are  they  ill-suited  to  the  old-time  flower- 
garden,  when  house  and  fences  are  of  plain  lines. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


2 1 1 


In  the  Friends’  burying-ground,  Green  and  Coulter 
streets,  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  is  a  brass  dial-face 
fixed  on  one  such  square  plain  pedestal  of  gray  gran¬ 
ite.  See  facing  page  202.  The  gnomon  is  set  on  the 


Sun-dial  at  Haddonfield,  New  Jersey,  in  Garden  of 
H.  R.  Mitchell,  Esq. 


centre  of  a  metal  face  engraved  with  an  eight-pointed 
star,  the  points  indicating  the  different  points  of  the 
compass.  The  outer  circle  has  the  hours  divided  to 
minutes,  and  inside  that  is  a  table  with  the  correc- 


212  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

tions  for  reducing  the  sun  time  to  mean  time  for 
each  day  of  the  year.  This  finely  calculated  and 
engraved  dial  was  made  by  W.  &  S.  Jones,  No.  30 
Holborn  Street,  London,  but  has  no  date.  The 
assigned  date  is  1778.  On  a  brass  plate  fastened  to 
the  stone  is  engraved  the  noble  text :  “  Our  days 
are  as  a  shadow  and  there  is  none  abiding”  —  my 
favorite  motto  of  all  sun-dial  legends. 

The  sun-dial  on  page  213  has  a  pretty  story.  It 
stands  in  the  garden  at  Huntercombe  Manor, 
Maidenhead,  England,  —  the  garden  of  E.  V.  B., 
the  Hon.  Mrs.  Boyle,  author  of  A  Garden  of  Pleas¬ 
ure^  Seven  Gardens  and  a  Palace ,  and  Sylvana  s  Letters 
to  an  Unknown  Friend.  Of  all  modern  writers  on 
the  garden  now  living,  Sylvana  has  to  me  the  truest 
insight  into  the  spirit  of  a  flower,  the  purest  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  flower  life,  the  happiest  manner  of  telling 
of  her  insight  and  her  enjoyment.  Every  page  of 
her  books  is  a  delight  to  read  and  I  know  that  her 
letters  were  positively  written  to  me.  In  one  she 
tells  the  story  of  this  sun-dial  :  — 

u  I  send  you  a  likeness  of  the  sun-dial,  and  here  is  the 
story  of  it,  if  you  care  to  know.  In  one  sense  the  sun-dial 
is  old,  and  in  another  sense  it  is  quite  new.  It  would  do 

to  describe  it  either  way.  Years  ago  at  M -  I  knew 

a  stone-mason’s  yard  where  old  stone  might  be  picked  up. 
Here  in  those  days  I  could  often  find  choice  old  tomb¬ 
stones  and  bits  of  church  architecture  and  old  London 
Bridge  parapets,  stone  balls,  etc.  My  last  bargain  in  the 
stone-yard  was  four  corners  of  a  tomb  of  the  sort  common 
a  hundred  or  more  years  ago.  For  fifteen  years  I  doubted 
what  to  do  with  them,  till  suddenly  one  summer  day  a  sun- 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons  213 

dial  was  decided.  The  difficulties  of  arranging  it  were 
great,  and  the  work  filled  up  at  least  two  happy  weeks. 
Three  old  carved  stone  tablets  with  lines  in  alto  relievo 
were  made  to  grace  the  sun-dial’s  head.  T  he  lines  walk 
with  stately  step  from  the  sun  rising  southwards  towards 


Sun-dial  made  from  Old  Tomb,  Huntercombe  Manor, 
Maidenhead,  England. 

the  north.  The  well-weathered  marble  brackets  on  which 
the  gnomon  rests  had  lain  in  patience  under  the  laurels 
for  many  a  year  till  Time  brought  round  an  hour  and  a 
place  for  them.  And  then  came  the  fulfilment  of  the 
whole,  the  motto  of  a  famous  architect  given  to  me,  and 
engraved  around  the  upper  step,  Lux  et  umbra  vicissim ,  sed 
semper  amor.  This  motto,  published  in  my  Garden  of  Pleas¬ 
ure ,  has  been  since  translated  into  English  and  printed  in 


214  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

someone  else’s  garden  book.  I  wish  you  could  see  the 
white  lily  planted  two  autumns  ago  just  under  the  lowest 
step.  The  slender  shaft  of  its  stalk  carries  now  for 
the  first  time  three  or  four  buds,  and  when  the  sun  shines 
upon  it  a  delicate  half-transparent  shadow  slants  across  the 
stone.  For  some  reason  known  to  itself  this  lily  grows  so 
small  that  it  is  like  no  mortal  lily.  Blue  Gentian  in  May 
sets  oft'  the  stone  edging  between  it  and  the  turf ;  and  a 
plant  of  yellow  Clematis  flings  itself  in  a  light  embrace 
around  the  central  column  or  pedestal.  The  flower  of  it 
I  have  never  seen.  I  only  know  its  handsome  fluffy  seed.” 

I  have  given  this  account  of  Sylvana’s  sun-dial  at 
length,  not  only  on  account  of  its  absolute  charm 
of  diction,  but  on  account  of  the  valuable  sugges¬ 
tions  it  gives  for  the  mounting  of  sun-dials.  What 
infi'nite  pleasure  she  has  had  in  comparison  to  the 
owner  of  the  costly  made-to-order  pedestal,  in  this 
“  home-made  ”  pedestal.  Of  course  it  is  not  home¬ 
made  either,  for  the  carving  is  fine  and  has  seen 
good  days  ere  it  came  to  its  better  days  in  the 
manor  garden  ;  but  the  putting  together  of  the 
different  parts  necessitated  much  thought,  and 
brought  infinite  gratification,  like  everything  else 
over  which  we  work  long  and  make  a  success.  I 
know,  were  it  mine,  I  should  never  glance  at  this 
sun-dial  without  a  thrill  of  delight  over  my  handi¬ 
work.  It  is  well  to  use  old  bits  of  marble  and 
stonework,  or  old  pillars  and  pedestals  of  turned 
wood,  if  one  can  find  them  of  good  simple  shape. 
Charles  Dickens  used  a  pillar  of  the  balustrade  of 
old  Rochester  Bridge  as  a  pedestal  for  his  sun-dial 
at  Gadshill.  This  dial  and  pillar  were  recently  sold 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


215 


in  London  for  fifty  pounds.  The  early  days  of  the 
dial  are  told  in  an  inscription  cut  upon  it.  A  clergy¬ 
man  of  Suffolk,  England,  has  a  dial  in  his  vicarage 
garden  at  Pakenham  set  on  a  part  of  the  balustrade  of 
London  Bridge.  The  bridge  was  taken  down  in  1832. 

I  have  known  twice  of  using  as  a  dial  pedestal 
the  stone  roller  of  a  worn  garden  or  lawn  roller  of 
the  old-fashioned  type.  Set  on  end  firmly  into  the 
ground,  and  with  a  well-designed  brass  dial-face 
covering  the  other  end,  it  was  a  very  satisfactory 
pillar,  and  carried  with 
it  that  pleasant  sense  of 
a  decorous  and  not  use¬ 
less  end  of  the  days  for 
a  faithful  old  servant, 
albeit  of  senseless  stone, 
which  one  feels  also  for 
a  worn  old  mill-stone 
turned  into  a  doorstep  ; 
for  a  well-curb  made 
into  a  flower-stand ;  or 
for  an  old  Dutch  wind¬ 
mill  transformed  to  a 
house  for  garden  tools. 

The  richest  pedestals 
are,  of  course,  those  of 
carved  figures,  suited 
only  to  very  rich  and 
pretentious  gardens.  Their  cost,  whether  of  marble, 
stone,  metal,  or  even  wood,  would  prevent  their  ap¬ 
pearance  anywhere  save  in  such  gardens.  A  kneeling 
figure  supporting  a  dial  on  the  head  was  popular,  see 


The  Moor,  Enfield  Old  Park, 
Middlesex. 


2l6 


Sun-.dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

page  215.  These  were  sometimes  cast  in  lead.  One 
which  stood  in  the  garden  of  Clement’s  Inn,  and  is 
now  in  the  gardens  of  the  Inner  Temple  on  the 
Thames  embankment,  is  a  negro  figure  and  has  been 

known  as  “  The  Moor.” 
It  is  said  that  there  were 
in  the  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury  a  number  of  “  stat¬ 
uaries,”  lead-casters, 
whose  works  were  be¬ 
tween  Piccadilly,  Park 
Lane,  and  Devonshire 
House;  one  of  these 
men,  John  van  Nost, 
made  this  “  Moor”  his 
favorite  design. 

At  Belton  House, 
near  Grantham,  there 
is  a  worn  dial  in  Earl 
Brownlow’s  garden,  sup- 

Sun-dial  at  Hampton  Court.  ported  by  two  figures> 

Old  Time  and  Cupid.  This  dial,  with  its  quaintly 
grotesque  figures,  is  shown  on  page  198.  A  unique 
dial  is  the  famous  old  Turk’s  Head  given  on 
another  page.  At  Windsor,  near  the  Star  “  Build¬ 
ing,”  stands  a  sun-dial  with  a  highly  carved  mar¬ 
ble  pedestal,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  work 
of  that  man  of  infinite  genius,  Grinling  Gibbons. 
The  carving  is  in  high  relief,  and  the  Star  and 
Garter  is  engraved  on  the  dial-face  with  the  motto, 
Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense.  Henricus  IVynne ,  Londinii , 
fecit. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


217 


In  1895  a  beautiful  dial  was  designed  and  set  up 
by  Messrs.  Brewill  and  Baily  at  Whatton  House 
near  Loughborough.  It  is  here  shown.  A  moulded 


Sun-dial  at  Whatton  House,  near  Loughborough. 

circular  top  is  carried  by  four  draped  figures  of  the 
Muses,  —  Clio,  Euterpe,  Erata,  and  Urania.  \  his 
group  resembles  the  dial  in  The  Dane  John  at 
Canterbury.  The  exact  size  of  figures  for  a  sun- 


218  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

dial  must  be  guided  by  the  extent  of  the  garden.  I 
do  not  like  colossal  figures  even  in  lead,  still  less  do 
I  like  to  see  displayed 

“  A  little  goddikin 

No  bigger  than  a  skittle  pin,” 

as  Cotton  wrote.  On  page  414  is  shown  the  dial 
at  Wroxton  Abbey,  Oxfordshire,  described  by  Mr. 
Blomfield  in  his  Formal  Garden  as  “a  moulded  cir¬ 
cular  top  carried  by  four  draped  female  figures,  who 
stand  on  a  square  pedestal,  the  angles  of  which  are 
decorated  with  rams’  heads  and  swags  of  fruits  and 
flowers.”  Perhaps  the  camera  may  be  held  at  fault, 
but  certainly  these  “Four  Seasons”  seem  dumpy 
little  goddikinesses. 

An  appropriate  pedestal  for  a  substantial  dial  in  a 
busy  town  is  standing  in  the  enclosure  of  the  gas¬ 
works,  northeast  corner  of  Twenty-third  and  Market 
streets,  Philadelphia.  It  was  originally  erected  by  the 
Market  Street  Bridge  Company,  at  the  western  ap¬ 
proach  of  the  bridge,  as  a  memorial  to  those  engaged 
in  the  construction  of  the  bridge.  Later  the  obelisk 
was  removed  to  its  present  position.  It  is  about 
twelve  feet  in  height,  cut  clean  and  true  from  gray 
sandstone,  and  consists  of  a  shaft  standing  on  two 
steps,  supporting  a  square  block  of  stone,  on  the 
four  sides  of  which  are  cut  dials  facing  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass.  The  whole  is  surmounted 
by  an  urn  carved  with  a  burning  flame.  On  the  four 
sides  of  the  obelisk  are  carved  long  inscriptions 
giving  a  history  of  the  construction,  quantities  of 
masonry,  etc.,  used  in  building  the  bridge. 


Sun-dial  and  Dial-face  at  Harlestone  House,  Northamptonshire. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


219 


Facing  page  218  is  the  sun-dial  at  Harlestone 
House,  Northamptonshire,  the  residence  of  the 
Duchess  of  Grafton,  and  a  reproduction  of  a  rub¬ 
bing  from  the  dial-face.  It  stands  on  the  lawn  at 
the  south  front  of  the  house,  and  bears  the  name 
and  date,  Frederic  Spencer,  August,  1842.  Maker, 
C.  W.  Dixey,  London.  Frederic  Spencer  was  the 
late  Earl  Spencer,  father 
of  the  present  peer.  The 
pedestal  is  very  simple, 
but  it  is  a  good  example 
of  a  well-proportioned 
plain  dial-pillar.  There 
are  several  sun-dials  on 
the  grounds  at  Althorp 
House,  Northampton¬ 
shire,  the  seat  of  Lord 
Spencer.  One  shown 
on  this  page  has  a  most 
elaborately  engraved 
face,  telling  the  time  in 
various  parts  of  the 
world.  Another  dial  is 
depicted  on  page  220. 

T  his  dial  has  recently  been  acquired  by  Lord  Spencer, 
and  placed  by  him  at  Althorp  House.  It  formerly 
stood  in  the  Admiralty  House  Gardens,  Whitehall, 
London,  that  memoried  spot.  When  the  Admiralty 
was  enlarged  last  year,  the  old  stone  garden  house  or 
summer  house  and  this  dial  had  to  be  removed. 
Lord  Spencer  was  permitted  to  purchase  both. 
There  was  vast  appropriateness  in  their  coming  into 


220  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


his  possession,  for  he  has  been  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty  and  his  grandfather  was  also  First  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty  as  a  member  of  Pitt’s  administra¬ 
tion  in  those  great  and  glorious  days  when  Lord 

Nelson  ruled  the  water, 
at  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  the  Nile  and  other 
great  naval  victories.  It 
is  told  that  Nelson  sat 
often  in  this  garden 
house  with  the  sun-dial 
standing  before  him, 
talking  over  naval  pol¬ 
icy,  in  those  days  when 
England  faced  down 
Bonaparte. 

At  Lindfield,  Sussex, 
is  Old  Place,  the  seat 
of  Charles  E.  Kempe, 
Esq.  The  house  was 
built  originally  in  1590 
and  has  been  added  to 
wholly  in  the  old  spirit. 
The  sun-dial  is  of  an 
unusual  form  and  deco¬ 
ration,  bearing  a  general 
resemblance  to  the  dial  at  Oxford  College.  The 
dial-head  has  been  made  and  set  within  a  few  years 
by  Messrs.  F.  Barker  &  Son  of  London.  It  is  a 
block  with  four  dial-faces  raised  on  a  tall  pillar, 
around  which  twines  in  large  black  and  gold  letters 
the  motto  in  a  spiral  reading.  The  motto  runs:  — 


Sun-dial  from  Admiralty  Garden. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


221 


Tempora  pratereunt ;  nunc  sol  nunc  umbra  vicissim 
Prcetereunt ;  super  est  ecce  perennis  amor. 

TIME  FLIES,  SUNS  RISE  AND  SHADOWS  FALL 
LET  TIME  GO  BY.  LOVE  IS  FOREVER  OVER  ALL. 

The  words  Perennis  Amor  are  illustrated  by  a. 

J 

brooding  pelican  in  bronze  surmounting  all.  The 


Sun-dial  at  Yaddo,  Saratoga,  New  York;  Country  Seat  of 
Spencer  Trask,  Esq. 


222 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


pillar  itself  is  raised  on  a  high  block  covered  with 
ivy,  so  the  whole  dial  is  a  very  imposing  figure. 

An  entirely  different  form  of  support  for  a  dial- 
face  is  given  on  page  221.  This  beautiful  sun-dial  is 


Bronze  Dial-face  at  Yaddc,  Saratoga,  New  York;  Country  Seat 
of  Spencer  Trask,  Esq. 

in  the  Rose  garden  at  Yaddo,  near  Saratoga,  New 
York,  at  the  country  seat  of  Spencer  Trask,  Esq. 
The  dial  is  like  an  antique  table,  supported  by  two 
carved  figures.  It  is  an  exact  copy  of  a  beautiful 


:-rl 

Iti  W^i 

Pillar-dial  at  Old  Place,  Lindfield,  England;  Seat  of  Charles  E. 

Kempe.  Esq. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


223 


carving  excavated  at  Pompeii,  and  it  was  made  for 
Mr.  Trask  by  express  permission  of  the  Italian 
government.  The  dial-face  is  very  fine  (page  222); 
it  was  designed  and  made  by  Messrs.  F.  Barker  & 
Son  of  London,  and  bears  two  exquisite  verses  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke,  written  specially  for 
this  dial.  One  reads  :  — 

HOURS  FLY 
FLOWERS  DIE 
NEW  DAYS 
NEW  WAYS 
PASS  BY  : 

LOVE  STAYS. 

The  other  is  at  the  base  of  the  gnomon  :  — 

TIME  is 

TOO  SLOW  FOR  THOSE  WHO  WAIT 
TOO  SWIFT  FOR  THOSE  WHO  FEAR 
TOO  LONG  FOR  THOSE  WHO  GRIEVE 
TOO  SHORT  FOR  THOSE  WHO  REJOICE 
BUT  FOR  THOSE  WHO  LOVE 
TIME  IS 
ETERNITY. 

The  house  of  Gilbert  White  at  Selborne  still 
stands  close  to  the  village  highway.  Its  softly  toned 
bricks  and  green  vineries  make  it  the  ideal  rural  home. 
The  grounds  are  much  the  same  as  during  the 
naturalist’s  life.  In  the  meadow  is  his  shivering 
Aspen  ;  and  on  the  green  his  Sycamore.  I  he  brick 
wall  which  he  built  still  bears  the  tablet  and  date, 
G.  W.,  1761.  His  favorite  walk  still  stretches  its 
narrow  brick  pathway  over  T  he  Hanger.  Surely, 


224  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


the  sun-dial  and  tortoise  must  be  still  here  !  The 
lawn  is  glittering  with  sunshine  so  the  aged  tortoise 
cannot  be  seen,  but  here  is  the  sun-dial  on  the  verge 
of  the  lawn,  just  as  he  placed  it,  and  read  daily  its 
informing  letters.  You  can  see  its  picture  here  on 
this  page,  and  a  very  good  model,  too,  would  it 
form  for  those  who  constantly  write  to  me  searching 

for  simple  well- 
proportioned  dial- 
pillars.  The  dial 
pedestals  shown 
in  the  illustrations 
throughout  this 
book  offer  vast 
variety  of  design. 
Many  of  them 
have  been  chosen 
and  presented  sim¬ 
ply  to  instruct  the 
dial  seeker. 

Opposite  this 
page  is  shown  a 
very  satisfactory 
dial  pedestal  at  the 
home  of  Charles 
F.  Jenkins,  Esq., 
in  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  This  pedestal  is 
new  ;  it  forms  a  suitable  support  for  the  old  dial- 
face,  which  belonged  originally  to  Nathaniel  Spen¬ 
ser,  who  lived  in  Germantown  before  and  during 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  His  daughter  Hep- 
zibah  married,  and  carried  the  dial-face  to  Byberry. 


Sun-dial  of  Gilbert  White,  Selborne. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons  225 

She  in  turn  had  a  daughter  whose  married  name 
became  Jenkins,  and  she  carried  the  sun-dial  to 
Gwynedd.  Her  grandson  is  the  present  owner. 
He  rescued  the  sun-dial  of  his  forebears  from  a 
chicken-house  with  gnomon  missing,  and  after  a 
time  that  was  found.  Its  inscription,  Time  waits 
for  No  Man,  is  held  to  be  a  punning  device  on 
the  word  gnomon.  T  his  dial  jest,  varied  to  read, 
H  ours  stay  for  No  Man,  I  wait  for  No  Man,  etc., 
is  seen  on  many  English  dials. 

Two  or  three  years  ago  a  liberal  prize  was  offered 
in  one  of  our  American  art  associations  for  the  best 
design  for  a  sun-dial.  I  know  not  the  specifications 
in  this  contest,  nor  whether  there  were  limitations. 
I  have  seen  the  designs  which  were  deemed  the 
most  creditable,  and  in  one  case  I  looked  upon 
the  drawing  with  much  curiosity,  querying  whether 
the  artist  had  ever  seen  a  sun-dial,  or  really  under¬ 
stood  either  its  significance  or  its  working,  as  he  cer¬ 
tainly  did  not  its  traditions. 

The  gnomon  of  the  sun-dial  is  that  piece  which 
projects  from  the  face  of  the  dial,  the  shadow  ot 
which  tells  the  time  of  the  day.  It  is  often  triangular, 
but  may  be  of  various  shapes  ;  in  fact,  an  obelisk  or 
any  index  or  line  which  marks  a  meridian  line  is  also 
a  gnomon.  This  gnomon  is  also  called  a  stylus,  or 
style,  or  stile,  or  index,  or  pointer  —  these  all  mean 
precisely  the  same  thing.  Elorio  says,  “  I  he  gnomon 
is  the  gnow-man  or  know-man  of  a  dial  1,  the  shadow 
whereof  pointeth  out  the  howers.”  From  this 
comes  the  word  gnomonics ,  or  as  it  once  was  spelled 
gnomonicks ,  the  art  or  science  of  dialling;  and  various 


226  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

other  words,  such  as  gnomonist ,  one  versed  in 
dialling,  and  gnomonology ,  a  treatise  on  dialling. 
The  derivative  adjective  is  gnomonic ,  gnomonical ,  and 
gnomic ,  but  as  the  last-named  word  has  another 
remote  signification,  it  is  not  much  used.  I  may 
say  in  passing  that  in  the  word  dialling  I  have 
clung  to  the  spelling  always  found  in  the  old  trea¬ 
tises  and  trigonometries  ;  the  spelling  given  in  mod¬ 
ern  dictionaries  is  with  a  single  1  —  dialing.  On 
the  exact  setting  of  the  gnomon  all  the  worth  of 
the  sun-dial  depends ;  of  course  all  parts  should  be 
exact,  but  the  gnomon  must  be  precisely  made  and 
set.  Therefore  it  is  not  well  to  make  the  gnomon 
of  wood,  because  it  may  warp  and  twist. 

I  would  suggest  to  all  who  are  erecting  sun-dials, 
especially  horizontal  dials  in  a  garden,  that  more 
thought  and  work  be  spent  upon  the  gnomon  than 
is  generally  done.  Being  ordinarily  of  metal  it  can 
be  engraved  on  its  flat  surface,  or,  better  still,  it  can 
be  pierced.  The  use  even  of  a  monogram  in  the 
design  will  add  to  its  interest,  or  a  date  or  crest.  I 
like  a  large  gnomon  with  as  much  fine  pierced  work 
as  can  be  put  upon  it.  When  pierced  brass  work 
of  such  exquisite  design  was  used  in  old  watches,  it 
is  strange  the  brass  worker  did  not  turn  to  the  sister 
timekeeper,  the  sun-dial,  as  a  field  for  delicate  orna¬ 
mentation.  I  have  a  collection  of  two  hundred  old 
brass  verges  or  bridges  from  ancient  verge-watches 
in  which  the  designs  show  every  variety  of  exquisite 
tracing  and  outline.  I  know  no  gold  wrought  work 
to  compare  with  them  in  delicate  beauty,  and  were 
they  of  precious  metal,  they  would  make  a  superb 


Sun-dial  at  Cranford.  Germantown,  Pennsylvania ;  Residence  of 
Charles  F.  Jenkins.  Esq. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


227 


necklace.  Some  such  work,  though  of  necessity 
much  heavier  and  of  a  deeper  cutting,  since  it  is  to 
be  exposed  to  the  weather,  would  I  see  on  the  stylus 
of  the  sun-dial.  It  could  carry  out  in  finest  effect 
the  design  of  pedestal  and  face.  Or  the  gnomon 
might  he  given  a  voice  and  speak  both  to  the  dial- 
face  and  to  that  person  who  is  termed  in  the  old 
dial-mottoes  the  “  Passinger,”  —  that  is  the 
passer-by. 

In  a  facet-headed  dial  where  the  gno 
mons  are  so  prominent,  they  should  hold 
the  chief  ornamentation.  I  can  im¬ 
agine  a  beautiful  dial  —  a  simple  pil¬ 
lar  supporting  a  block  with  twelve 
faces,  each  a  dial ;  these  faces  to 
have  no  ornamentation,  merely 
to  show  the  hour  lines.  The 
gnomons  could  be  pierced  in  a 
floral  design,  such  as  the  Tulip. 

Each  of  the  smaller  gnomons 
could  be  two  or  three  leaves,  or  a  leaf  and  bud. 
The  four  large  dials  would  show  the  full  flower  on 
their  gnomons.  The  pillar  should  be  plain  save  at 
the  base,  where  a  circular  block  could  show  in  very 
low  relief  a  few  lines  suggestive  of  Tulip  leaves. 

Great  indifference  or  lack  of  taste  is  often  shown 
in  regard  to  the  relation  of  the  ornamentation  of  the 
dial-plate  to  that  of  the  pedestal.  T  he  adornment 
of  the  plate  and  sculpture  of  the  pedestal  should 
correspond  in  design,  or,  at  least,  be  of  a  similar 
school  of  decoration.  You  do  not  wish  a  Japan¬ 
esque  engraving  of  lines  with  a  Grecian  pedestal ; 


Gnomon  of  Dial.  Lelant 
Church,  Cornwall. 


228  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

nor  would  I  wish  a  floral  ornamentation  on  the 
dial-plate  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  on  the  ped¬ 
estal. 

Very  rarely  an  old  gnomon  will  show  some  curi¬ 
ous  design.  On  page  227  is  pictured  the  gnomon 
of  a  vertical  dial  at  Lelant  Church,  Cornwall ;  it  is  the 

figure  of  a  skeleton 
standing  on  a  hori¬ 
zontal  bar.  This  is 
pierced  in  such  a 
way  that  his  ribs, 
skull,  dart,  and 
hour-glass  are 
plainly  seen.  This 
emblem  of  Death, 
a  skeleton,  was  held 
to  be  as  suitable  to 
a  sun-dial  as  to  a 
tombstone;  and 
sometimes  the  dial 
bore  a  carving  of 
skull  and  bones. 
One  is  shown  on 
this  page,  also  page 
230.  I  have  seen 
a  mounted  globe  serving  as  a  gnomon.  An  ele¬ 
phant’s  trunk  and  the  wing  of  a  bird  have  furnished 
designs  for  gnomons.  A  very  fine  gnomon,  shaped 
like  a  dragon,  is  upon  a  dial  made  in  London  for  an 
American  garden.  It  is  shown  in  this  book. 

A  very  curiorfs  gnomon  and  a  very  curious  dial 
was  that  of  the  Church  of  Brou  in  the  Savoy  valley. 


Dial-face,  Sneepstor  Church,  Dartmoor. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


229 

It  is  said  it  was  made  for  the  use  of  the  workmen 
of  many  lands  who  built  the  church. 

“Stones  are  sawing,  hammers  ringing. 

On  the  work  the  bright  sun  shines. 

In  the  Savoy  mountain-meadows. 

By  the  stream  below  the  pines. 

On  her  pal  fry  white  the  Duchess 

Sate,  and  watched  her  working  train, 

Flemish  carvers,  Lombard  gilders, 

German  masons,  smiths  from  Spain,” 

thus  wrote  Matthew  Arnold  in  his  poem,  The 
Church  of  Brou.  This  sun-dial  was  a  great  circle 
on  the  pavement,  thirty-three  feet  in  diameter;  and 
the  hours  were  marked  in  bricks.  The  time-seeker 
himself,  were  he  Flemish  carver  or  smith  from  Spain, 
formed  the  gnomon.  He  placed  himself  on  the  spot 
marked  with  the  name  of  the  current  month  and  his 
shadow  fell  on  the  correct  hour.  A  very  elaborate 
and  exact  dial  was  made  in  Dijon  about  a  hundred 
years  ago  by  one  M.  Caumont.  Four  great  blocks 
of  stone  marked  the  points  of  the  compass,  and  were 
carved  with  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  other  long 
slabs  of  stone  with  the  meridian  line  and  east  and 
west  line.  Outside  these  was  a  circle  of  twenty-four 
great  stone  slabs,  each  marking  an  hour.  The  time- 
observer  set  an  upright  stick  on  the  meridian  line 
opposite  the  initial  letter  of  the  month,  and  its 
shadow  showed  the  correct  time.  I  was  once  shown 
at  a  seaside  resort  a  row  of  numbered  stones  and 
a  socket,  and  told  to  thrust  a  long  pole  in  the  socket, 
when  its  shadow  would  fall  on  the  stones  and  tell 


230  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


the  hour.  This  we  did,  and  the  result  proved  the 
pole  and  stones  a  very  fair  timekeeper. 

I  have  a  fancy  that  a  sun-dial  should  ever  have 
some  extrinsic  value;  no  object  yields  more  readily 
to  the  power  of  association.  Let  your  dial  be  made 
from  stone  taken  from  some  historic  or  memorable 
spot.  For  instance,  a  pedestal  was  cut  in  stone 
taken  from  the  field  of  the  battle  of  Bennington. 
In  that  battle  took  a  prominent  part  a  sturdy  old 
farmer  from  what  is  now  Vermont.  His  part  was 
prominent — not  that  he  was  an  officer,  but  he  was 
a  soldier  of  such  exalted  enthusiasm  and  belief  in 

his  cause  ;  he  was  so  fear¬ 
less,  so  enduring,  so  bold, 
though  he  was  seventy 
years  old,  that  he  became 
a  leader  in  his  company 
through  sheer  force  of  his 
own  belief  and  his  expres¬ 
sion  of  it  —  as  many  an¬ 
other  leader  has  become. 
His  quaint  and  fearless 
sayings  are  told  to  this 
day.  He  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  of  course  with  his  tem¬ 
perament  he  was  the  best 
blacksmith  in  the  province; 
and  he  was  proud  of  his 
work,  as  all  first-class  workmen  are.  And,  what  is 
far  rarer,  his  grandson  is  proud  of  it  also  ;  and  on 
the  fine  shaft  cut  in  grand  simplicity  of  shape  from 
this  Bennington  boulder,  he  has  set  as  a  gnomon  a 


Sun-dial  in  Wall  of  Black 
Friars’  Burial-ground,  Perth. 


Pedestals  and  Gnomons 


231 


bronze  arm  wielding  a  hammer,  a  splendid  piece  of 
work.  It  fairly  speaks  to  you  of  his  grandfather, 
the  fighting  blacksmith,  of  the  certainty  of  the  blows 
with  which  he  made  his  way  through  life,  conquer¬ 
ing  Time  because  he  fearlessly  and  cheerfully  filled  it 
with  honest  and 
dignified  work. 

Another  dial- 
pillar  has  a  ten¬ 
derer  message :  it 
is  laid  in  cement  of 
sea-worn  stones 
of  nearly  uniform 
size  and  great 
beauty  of  tint, 
which  were  gath¬ 
ered  from  the 
beach,  and  the 
very  corner  of  the 
beach  made  mem¬ 
orable  to  the  dial- 
owners  as  the 
place  where  the 
twain  became  be¬ 
trothed  ;  and  since  the  husband  is  a  well-known 
Shakespearian  critic,  it  is  meet  that  the  motto  should 
be  a  line  from  Shakespeare’s  Sonnet  cxvi  :  — 


Pedestals  of  Dials  at  Enfield  Old  House 
and  Chiswick.  Middlesex. 


“  Love  alters  not  with  Time’s  brief  hours  and  weeks.” 


A  dial-face  which  I  have  seen  was  cast  in  metal 
taken  from  the  sheathing  of  an  old  battleship,  upon 
which  the  dial-owner,  when  a  midshipman,  had 


2J2  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

served  during  our  Civil  War.  Value  could  come  to 
the  dial  through  its  model ;  it  could  be  shaped  like 
a  dial  which  had  been  possessed  or  designed  by 
some  one  of  deserved  renown.  As  an  example  let 
me  again  refer  to  the  sun-dial  pictured  on  page  13, 
which  is  a  precise  reproduction  of  the  sun-dial  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  What  value  this  knowledge  gives  to 
it !  It  is  a  gate  opening  to  us  a  world  of  historical  and 
literary  memories.  One  might  reproduce  the  dial  of 
Gilbert  White,  shown  on  page  224.  It  is  a  bit  more 
ornate  than  would  seem  to  please  Gilbert  White’s  very 
quiet  tastes.  He  had  an  interest,  we  know,  in  things 
allied  to  sun-dials.  Read  his  letter  upon  building  a 
heliotrope  in  the  garden  —  two,  indeed  ;  one  for  the 
summer,  the  other  for  the  winter  solstice.  Several 
who  could  own  a  costly  dial  have  reproduced  the 
Queen  Mary’s  dial  at  Holyrood  Palace;  others  have 
adopted  it  in  part.  I  do  not,  in  general,  like  an 
alteration  of  an  historical  model.  The  moment  it  is 
imitated  in  part,  it  has  lost  its  value,  —  that  of  exact 
picturing.  Even  an  association  through  the  selec¬ 
tion  of  a  motto  is  better  than  no  association. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  SETTING  OF  SUN-DIALS 

“  I  stand  amid  ye  summer  flowers 
To  tell  ye  passing  of  ye  hours; 

When  winter  steals  ye  flowers  away 
I  tell  ye  passing  of  their  day.” 

—  Sun-dial  Motto ,  Rev.  Greville  G.  Chester,  i860. 

OW  readily  a  sun-dial  may 
be  made  beautiful — or  marred 
—  by  its  setting!  A  pictu¬ 
resque  or  wise  setting  can  do 
much  to  atone  for  or  hide 
an  ugly  or  ill-suited  pedestal. 
Doubtless  many  of  the  charm¬ 
ing  pictures  formed  by  the 
sun-dial  in  old  gardens  came 
through  the  judicious  and 
beautifying  touch  of  Time.  I  am  easily  influenced 
by  sun-dials.  I  must  acknowledge  myself  when  in 
each  one’s  presence  wholly  under  its  dominion,  and 
dominated  a  bit,  too,  by  friendship  for  the  owner  of 
the  dial.  Thus  when  I  am  at  Twin  Beaches,  1  think 
a  close-set  row  of  English  daisies  around  the  circular 
foundation,  a  true  daisy-wreath,  is  the  sweetest  setting 
any  sun-dial  could  have.  At  Hillside,  in  the  Shake- 

233 


4 


234  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

speare  garden,  I  know  the  bunches  of  the  homely  old 
Snow  Pinks  are  wonderfully  satisfying,  whether  tipped 
with  their  low-growing  sweet-scented  pale  stars  of  fra¬ 
grance  or  simply  standing  in  clean  clumps  of  grayish 
green  grass-like  foliage,  —  so  suited  in  tint  to  the  color 
of  the  dial-stone.  At  Cranford  the  pillar  of  the  old 
Quaker  dial  is  surrounded  with  Golden  Honeysuckle, 
—  for  “  Time  is  golden  ”  ;  and  what  could  be  more 
graceful  and  appropriate  ?  But  when  I  turn  down 
the  Rose  walk  of  the  Van  Cortlandt  manor  garden, 
or  walk  through  the  blaze  of  sunshine  and  color  and 
perfume  of  the  Burnside  garden  near  my  Worcester 
home,  and  find  the  old  sun-dials  garlanded  and  sur¬ 
rounded  with  Roses,  then  I  know  that  sun-dials 
and  Roses  are  best  of  all.  So  in  the  garden  of  Dial 
H  ouse,  which  is  the  name  of  my  country  home  — 
which  is  not,  but  which  is  ever  to  be  —  there  my 
garden-dial,  too,  will  be  partly  surrounded  with 
Roses.  If  the  sun-dial  is  set  in  a  Rose  garden, 
it  will  probably  be  at  the  crossing  of  two  paths, 
whether  these  be  of  grass  or  earth  ;  or  it  may  be 
on  a  grass-plot  in  the  centre  of  the  garden.  But 
if  Roses  are  set  near  it,  they  should  always  be  low- 
growing  bush  Roses,  and  small  of  flower  ;  and  pret¬ 
tiest  of  all  would  be  any  of  the  Pompon  Roses,  the 
tiny  Fairy  Rose,  or  the  Pink  Burgundy,  or  the 
charming  Paquerettes ;  these  in  their  trim  little 
quilled  bosses  of  color  and  bloom  would  well  adorn 
the  sun-dial. 

And  in  my  garden  these  Rose-bushes  must  be  set 
with  precise  regularity  around  the  dial-base,  —  at  the 
four  corners  probably;  and  the  Rose-bushes  must  be 


Sun-dial  in  Lippincott  Garden,  Germantown,  Pennsylvania. 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials  235 

kept  of  the  same  size,  and  a  bit  formal  of  shape.  I 
can  look  at  and  admire  some  irregularity  of  growth 
and  blossom  around  the  sun-dials  of  others;  but  in 
my  own  garden,  and  with  my  own  dial,  I  wish  the 
precision  of  the  laws  which  rule  the  dial,  and  make  it 
the  thing  it  is,  to  be  suggested  by  some  precision  of 
decoration  and  surroundings. 

That  the  bloom  at  the  dial-base  should  be  small 
and  the  encircling  vine,  if  present  at  all,  light  in 
growth  is  proved  by  regarding  the  dial  of  E.  V.  B., 
shown  on  page  213,  where  the  Clematis  is  scarce  more 
than  an  outline,  and  the  Lily  a  miniature  thing —  but 
you  cannot  doubt  their  fitness  for  their  place. 

If  one  has  garden  associations,  —  and  especially 
childish  associations,  — and  if  one  has,  above  all,  some 
tender  association  of  memory  with  a  certain  plant,  I 
think  it  well  ever  to  heed  them,  and  to  commemorate 
them  if  possible  through  the  planting  around  a  sun¬ 
dial.  For  there,  in  the  presence  of  that  which  marks 
the  flight  of  Time,  let  the  Past  be  recalled  in  a 
permanent  manner.  It  is  appropriate  to  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  a  sun-dial. 

I  always  like  to  see  my  friends’  sun-dials,  and  this 
summer  I  walked  down  the  garden  path  of  a  friend 
to  see  a  pretty  sun-dial  which  had  been  set  on  a 
pedestal  made  of  an  ancient  granite  gate-post.  This 
stood  on  a  square  slate  base  raised  a  single  step  ; 
this  slate  step  was  carved  with  initials  and  dates  in 
the  old-time  manner  of  lettering,  when  the  posses¬ 
sions  of  man  and  wife  —  Henry  and  Alice  Earle, 
for  instance  —  would  be  marked  tfE.  This  stone 
step  was  edged  around  with  Ribbon-grass,  with  large 


236  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

clumps  growing  at  the  four  corners.  I  knew  why 
she  had  planted  it  thus,  —  it  was  in  memory  of  her 
childhood  in  a  garden.  I  looked  at  my  friend  in 
silence,  then  stooped  and  gathered  two  of  the  blades 


Sun-dial  with  Crimson  Rambler  in  Garden  of  Mrs.  Mabel  Osgood 
Wright,  Fairfield,  Connecticut. 

of  green  and  white  grass.  And  oh,  what  a  wealth 
of  garden  memories  came  to  me  with  the  sight  and 
the  touch  of  these  grass-blades  ! 

What  hours  had  we  spent  together  as  children 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


237 


striving  to  find  two  blades  whose  colorings  and 
stripes  were  exactly  alike  !  Nothing  hung  on  the 
performance  of  this  task  ;  there  was  no  traditional 
promise  of  good  luck,  no  dread  of  uncanny  happen¬ 
ings  if  one  failed  to  accomplish  this  grass-mating.  It 
was  absolutely  without  reason,  yet  we  hung  among 
the  grass-grown  bed  at  the  foot  of  the  garden  all  the 
long  summer  afternoon,  parting  and  peering  and 
culling  and  comparing  them.  I  recalled  with  delight 
this  garden  dalliance,  as  it  came  to  me  with  the 
pleasant  touch  of  the  hot  green  and  white  gauze 
ribbons  of  grass.  Gardener’s  Garters  was  their 
quaint  old  English  name.  This  grass-matching 
stood  on  a  high  plane,  on  some  purely  aesthetic 
principle  which  no  grown  folk  could  fathom,  and 
which  I  have  now  forgotten  if  I  ever  understood 
it,  but  which  formed  the  essence,  the  spirit,  of  all 
childish  flower-lore.  I  wish  I  could  still  feel  in  any 
accomplishment  of  mine  to-day  the  gratification  which 
came  to  me  as  I  seemed  to  approach  success  in  our 
childish  and  meaningless  Ribbon-grass  play  ;  it  was 
a  triumph  over  all  other  garden  frequenters.  Yet 
I  never  found  two  blades  that  were  exactly  alike. 
Throughout  the  summer  and  even  during  the 
autumnal  harvest  of  golden  leaves,  which  we  also 
tried  to  match  and  mate,  we  turned  to  the  Ribbon- 
grass.  No  one  can  explain  the  fascination  and  charm 
which  it  held  for  us. 

Another  sun-dial  has  been  set  in  the  centre  of  a 
circle  of  Thyme  about  ten  feet  in  diameter;  and 
around  the  base  of  the  dial  is  a  row  ot  Golden  I  hyme 
in  deference  to  the  jest  of  the  old  herbalists  ;  and 


23 8  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


without  the  Thyme  circle  is  a  circular  flower  bed  of 
sweet-scented  herbs,  broken  only  by  two  openings  of 
paths.  This  gives  an  effect  not  so  much  of  beauty, 
but  of  gratification  to  the  sense  of  smell ;  whoever 
walks  to  the  sun-dial  has  there  a  vast  number  of 
fragrances  that  he  may  snip  off  and  bear  away. 
Great  bushes  of  Sweet  Briar,  Bayberry,  Calycanthus, 
and  Southernwood  stand  on  either  side  of  the  path 
entrances  ;  and  there  are  Lemon  Verbenas  and  Frax- 
inellas  and  scented  Geraniums,  including  the  spicy 
Nutmeg  Geranium  beloved  of  children.  Then  there 
are  bunches  and  strips  of  herbs,  not  the  ranker 
herbs  such  as  Rue,  Sage,  Mint,  Pennyroyal,  Tansy, 
and  Camomile,  for  these  so  overwhelm  all  others, 
but  there  is  Sweet  Basil,  and  the  pretty  Burnet, 
Costmary  or  Tongue  Plant,  and  a  little  Lavender, 
Sweet  Cicely,  Summer  Savory,  Woodruff,  Tarragon, 
Rosemary.  There  were  little  low  hedges  of  Box 
around  the  flower  beds,  but  many  declared  that  the 
perfume  of  the  Box  overwhelmed  all  other  scents, 
and  many  did  not  like  it;  so  to  make  the  sun-dial  a 
beloved  resort  for  all,  herbs  of  universal  welcome 
only  were  kept.  This  sun-dial  has  been  planted  and 
set  but  five  years,  yet  it  is  astonishing  how  it  has 
become  endeared  to  visitors  as  well  as  the  family, 
partly  through  the  power  of  associations  of  scents. 
One  man  writes,  “  I  never  smell  now  a  bit  of  Rose 
Geranium  or  Verbena  without  thinking  of  your 
sun-dial  and  sunlight  and  summer.” 

A  particularly  suitable  setting  for  a  sun-dial  —  es¬ 
pecially  one  standing  upon  a  square  platform  —  is 
to  plant  Yuccas  at  the  four  corners  of  the  dial-base. 


Sun-dial  in  Garden,  Avonwood  Court,  Haverford,  Pennsylvania ;  Seat  of  Charles  E.  Mather,  Esq. 


4 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


239 


Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  Henry  Souther,  Esq.,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 


What  an  effect  these  Yuccas  have  thus  planted  ! 
Their  beautiful  blooms  are  those  ot  a  miniature  Cen¬ 
tury  Plant.  They  are  like  a  marble  statue,  so  clear 
and  colorless ;  indeed,  they  are  like  ice  by  night. 
How  fine  the  starry  columns  ot  bloom  seen  with  the 


t 


240  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

sun-dial  against  a  hedge  ;  and  when  the  great  flower- 
stalk  is  dead  and  cut  away,  the  cluster  of  sword-like, 
spiny  leaves  is  as  classic  a  decoration  as  the  Aloe  or 
Century  Plant.  I  once  saw  the  balustrade  of  an  Italian 
garden  set  with  a  row  of  Yuccas  in  full  bloom  in 
white  marble  jars,  and  their  white  spires  were  grand 
beyond  compare.  How  much  more  white  things 
tell  in  the  garden  than  those  of  other  colors,  —  the 
white  flowered  trees,  the  white  blossoming  shrubs  ! 
White  is  the  high  light,  the  effective  point  of  the 
garden,  just  as  it  is  of  stained  glass  ;  and  when  white 
flowers  are  set  near  the  white  marble  dial,  they  all 
seem  a  fine  study  of  light  and  shade.  In  the  daytime 
the  Yucca’s  column  is  hung  in  scentless  but  graceful 
bells,  and  greenish  in  tint;  but  now  it  is  night,  and 
the  bells  open  and  stand  up,  full  of  odor  as  they  are 
of  light.  Pale  night  moths  hover  round  the  flowers 
and  float  over  the  dial,  lured  by  the  rich  fragrance. 

“  In  such  a  night  as  this,”  the  vivid  moon-night 
of  Shakespeare,  —  the  moon-night  of  the  Merchant 
of  Venice ,  the  moon-night  of  Lorenzo  and  Jessica, — 
in  such  a  night  as  this,  when  “  tipped  with  silver  are 
all  the  tree-tops,”  and  all  the  living  scenes  of  poetry 
and  drama  seem  near  us,  —  in  such  a  night  as  this 
we  would  be  like  William  Blake,  a  little  mad,  and 
know  that  there  walked  with  us  those  whose  names 
we  honor,  who  died  centuries  ago.  Blake  had  as 
companions  Alexander  the  Great  and  Julius  Ctesar 
and  Homer;  but  I  would  be  deeply  content  in  such 
a  night  as  this  to  stroll  with  William  Blake  himself, 
and  hear  him  speak  of  the  icelike  Yuccas. 

I  once  saw  a  sun-dial  surrounded  by  a  row  of 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


241 


scarlet  Tulips  in  full  bloom  ;  it  was  a  cheerful  sight 
for  its  day  and  hour,  and  had  a  certain  fitness  in 
that  it  was  found  in  the  garden  of  a  flower-lover  of 
Dutch  descent,  who  gave  due  honor  of  place  to  the 
sun-dial  by  encircling  it  with  a  favorite  flower.  But 
even  in  a  Dutch  garden,  the  Tulip  seems  of  too  fleet¬ 
ing  a  bloom  to  seem  suitable  as  a  sun-dial  setting. 

I  can  well  comprehend  the  longing  of  a  Tulip- 
lover  to  place  it  thus,  —  as  the  place  of  honor  in  a 
garden.  No  distinction  was  too  great  to  be  shown 
to  the  Tulip.  With  an  admiration  and  affection  which 
did  not  waver  for  centuries  did  the  Dutch  strive  to 
place  the  Tulip  in  prominence.  I  have  referred 
to  this  at  some 
Designs. 

On  page  242  is  shown  the  sun-dial  of  Horace 
Howard  Furness,  Esq.,  at  his  home  at  Wallingford, 
Pennsylvania.  How  fine  are  the  long  stems  and 
Poppy-seeds  which  surround  this  dial  !  How  beau¬ 
tiful  must  have  been  these  Poppies  in  bloom  ! 
Every  minute  of  the  life  of  a  Poppy  is  beautiful, 
yet  they  are  seldom  a  much-loved  flower.  Yester¬ 
day  a  flower-lover  here  at  East  Hampton  was  asked 
her  favorite  flower,  and  she  answered  Joan  Silverpin, 
referring  to  old  Gerarde’s  quaint  words  about  the 
Poppy,  —  namely,  “  Being  of  many  variable  colours 
and  of  great  beautie,  although  evill  smell,  our  gentle¬ 
women  doe  call  them  Jone  Silverpin.”  Constant 
reference  is  made  by  older  writers  to  their  vile  scent 
which  apparently  every  one  loathed.  But  nowadays 
I  find  many  like  the  smell  of  a  Poppy ;  I  do,  and 
I  like  to  eat  the  seeds,  as  I  always  ate  them  in 


length  in  my  chapter  on  Sun-dial 


1^.1  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


childhood.  In  many  countries  they  are  baked  with 
wheaten  flour  into  cakes. 


Sun-dial  with  Poppies  in  Garden  of  Horace  Howard  Furness,  Esq., 
Wallingford.  Pennsylvania. 


In  German  bake-shops  you  may  find,  and  in  the 
so-called  “  Vienna  Bakeries  ”  of  our  American  cities, 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


243 


a  certain  roll  glazed  with  yolk  of  egg,  and  bestrewn 
plentifully  with  tiny  purplish  grains,  curious  of 
aspect,  but  distinctly  pleasing,  albeit  unusual  of 
flavor.  T  his  coarse  powder  or  grain  is  Poppy-seed, 
and  here  is  a  recipe  for  these  cakes  :  — 

w  The  seeds  of  white  Garden  poppies  were  made  into 
Biskits  or  Comfits  with  honey  and  served  up  as  a  Bank- 
etting  Dish.  The  rustical  peasants  of  the  country  were 
wont  to  guild  or  glaze  (as  it  were)  the  uppermost  crust 
of  their  loaves  of  bread  with  the  yolks  of  eggs,  and  then 
to  bestrew  it  with  Poppy-seed  which  would  cleave  fast 
to  it.  They  would  put  them  into  the  oven  being  thus 
seasoned  which  gave  a  commendable  taste  to  the  bread 
being  baked.” 

You  would  think  that  recipe  was  for  our  New 
York  rolls,  albeit  in  the  wording  of  a  seventeenth 
century  chirurgeon,  but  it  is  far  older  still.  It  is 
a  translation  of  a  recipe  in  Pliny’s  Natural  Historie ; 
and  should  you  partake  freely  of  these  cakes,  I 
doubt  not  you  would  feel  the  opium  which  must 
be  in  the  Poppy-seed,  and  when  you  slept  there¬ 
from,  you  would  dream  of  ancient  Rome. 

There  is  a  certain  appropriateness  in  surround¬ 
ing  a  sun-dial  with  flowers  which  have  a  subtle  air  of 
mystery  ;  they  seem  suited  to  the  passing  of  time, 
to  night  and  day,  to  all  the  magic  of  life.  The 
Poppy  has  this  quality,  felt  in  full  by  the  two  great¬ 
est  students  of  the  very  being  of  the  Poppy  that  the 
world  has  known,  —  Ruskin  and  Celia  Thaxter.  The 
growing  Poppies  of  Celia  Thaxter’s  gardens  and 
the  gathered  Poppies  of  her  home  were  miracles  of 


244  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


beauty.  An  arrangement  of  Poppies  on  a  mantel, 
which  she  kept  ever  fresh  throughout  the  entire 
summer,  seems  to  have  made  a  lasting  picture  of 
glorious  beauty  upon  the  minds  of  all  who  beheld  it. 

Many  have  a  distinct  indifference  or  even  dislike 
of  planting  flowers  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  a 
sun-dial  ;  and  I  am  sure  it  is  wholly  a  modern 
fashion.  You  seldom  find  an  ancient  garden-dial,  if 
in  its  original  position,  with  flowers  set  near  it. 
But  when  no  herbaceous  plants  are  near  the  dial, 
shrubs  may  be  planted  at  a  little  distance  with 
wonderful  effect.  I  saw  recently  a  sun-dial  which 
stood  in  a  grass-plot  in  the  clear  sunlight.  In  a 
semicircle,  remote  enough  that  they  never  could 
shadow  the  dial-face,  were  planted  shrubs  which 
through  careful  selection  gave  to  the  sun-dial  a 
succession  of  blossoming  companions  from  early 
spring  till  winter  found  only  the  scarlet  hips  of  the 
Japanese  Roses.  The  spring  months  are  readily 
filled,  but  there  is  a  period  well  known  to  all  garden- 
makers  when  the  sun-dial  would  have  no  blossom 
companions  were  it  not  for  the  Tamarisk,  and  those 
faithful  relics  from  old-time  gardens,  the  Althea,  or 
Rose  of  Sharon. 

Of  course  the  very  essence  and  being  of  the  sun¬ 
dial  lies  in  ample  sunshine,  still  there  may  be  a  cer¬ 
tain  proximity  to  trees  great  and  small  that  will  add 
much  to  its  graceful  existence.  Three  trees  of  small 
growth  stood  near  the  white  marble  shaft  of  one  sun¬ 
dial  ;  in  winter  I  knew  that  these  small  trees  were 
Peach  trees,  and  I  knew  they  would  have  their  day 
and  hour  of  beauty,  but  I  did  not  know  that  they 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


245 


Sun-dial  at  Drumthwacket,  Princeton,  New  Jersey;  Country  Seat  of 

M.  Taylor  Pyne,  Esq. 

were  double-flowering  Peach  trees,  and  that  thereby 
their  time  of  beauty  would  be  so  multiplied,  quad¬ 
rupled,  in  glory.  When  I  saw  them  in  their  glo¬ 
rious  bloom,  they  were  the  first  double-flowered 
Peach  blossoms  that  I  had  ever  seen.  1  here  are 


246  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

certain  flower-pictures  of  extraordinary  beauty  that 
seem  indelibly  imprinted  on  our  eyes  and  brains, 
—  wonderful  scenes  which  we  can  never  forget;  this 
is  such  a  one.  1  have  only  to  close  my  eyes  on  the 
dullest  day  in  midwinter,  on  the  longest  sleepless 
night,  and  I  see  these  wonderful  irregular  mounds 
of  intense  pinkness,  these  masses  of  flowers  with 
the  pure  white  sun-dial  among  them.  Its  warning 
words  of  coming  night  and  darkness  and  death  had 
scant  weight  in  the  sight  of  such  beauty  which,  like 
all  beautiful  things,  seemed  to  me,  in  my  first  and 
unreasoning  delight,  immortal.  All  this  flower-talk 
opens  another  line  of  thought,  namely,  whether  the 
flowers  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  sun-dial 
should  not  be  carefully  regarded  as  to  their  relation 
to  the  character  of  the  decoration  of  the  sun-dial. 
But  perhaps,  in  Horatio’s  words,  “’Twere  to  con¬ 
sider  too  curiously,  to  consider  so.” 

Another  wonderful  background  was  a  row  of  Pine 
trees  which  had  been  left  standing  from  the  old 
forest  when  the  house  was  built  and  the  garden 
planned.  Not  near  enough  to  shadow  basely  the 
dial  at  midday,  but  close  enough  to  render  useless 
the  markings  of  the  hours  of  later  afternoon,  they 
watched  over  the  dial,  and  the  sound  of  their 
branches  seemed  the  very  passing  voice  of  Time. 

I  never  hear  now  the  soft  musical  sighing,  the 
tender  low  breathing  of  the  Pines  without  recalling 
the  tree-planting  in  Hardy’s  IVoodlanders  —  a  won¬ 
derful  description,  yet  of  few  words,  wherein  you 
smell  and  hear  and  see  the  beautiful  young  trees 
the  moment  they  are  planted  upright.  How  solemn 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials  247 

and  weird  is  that  sighing  in  an  old  tall  forest!  It 
is  a  distinct  third  of  three  notes,  formed  perhaps  by 
the  different  height  of  the  trees  or  by  cross-currents 


Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  the  late  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Auburn, 

New  York. 

of  air.  I  walked  through  such  a  forest  last  sum¬ 
mer,  one  with  grand  mast-trees  like  those  marked 
by  the  king’s  broad  arrow  of  old  ;  trees  born  to  be 
masts  and  with  the  tone  of  the  sea  in  their  chords. 


248  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

And  the  tree-voices  seemed  to  bear  the  weight  and 
profundity  of  the  centuries  of  their  lives,  —  a  solem¬ 
nity  that  is  not  sad,  but  seems  filled  instead  with  the 
essence  of  a  noble  life.  It  is  one  of  the  inarticulate 
nature-sounds  that  speak  more  clearly  than  words. 

The  voice  of  the  Pines  differs  at  times.  Lowell 
knows  the  Pine-tree  like  a  brother,  knows  its  moods 
and  its  voices  :  — 

“  Pines,  if  you’re  blue,  are  the  best  friends  I  know  ; 

They  mope  and  sigh  and  share  your  feelin’s  so  ; 

They  hush  the  ground  beneath  so,  too,  I  swan 
You  half  forget  you’ve  got  a  body  on.” 

“  Under  the  yaller  pines  I  house 

When  sunshine  makes  ’em  all  sweet-scented, 

And  hear  among  their  furry  boughs 

The  baskin’  west  wind  purr  contented.” 

Forests  of  tall-growing  Pines  and  forests  of  masts 
in  our  harbors  alike  are  disappearing;  thus  we  lose 
the  finest  of  those  beauties  given  to  us  simply 
through  the  repetition  of  perpendicular  forms.  I 
presume  the  brother  outline,  the  long  ranks  of 
bayonets,  will  also  disappear  from  our  marching 
armies,  and  some  insignificant  little  deadly  weapon 
fill  the  bayonet’s  place.  Yearly  are  the  picturesque 
elements  of  our  life  taken  from  us.  We  are  given 
many  comforts  to  replace  them,  but  no  work  of 
science  or  art  can  ever  equal  the  wondrous  natural 
beauty  of  the  serried  Pine  trees  and  Pine  masts. 

Even  this  row  of  a  scant  dozen  Pines  guarding 
the  sun-dial  has  the  charm  of  a  succession  of  up¬ 
right  lines.  It  is  this  beauty  of  perpendicular  forms 


Sun-dial  at  Huntercombe  Manor,  Maidenhead,  England;  Garden  of  Hon.  Mrs.  E.  V.  Boyle. 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


249 


that  make  many  plant  rows  of  Hollyhocks  as  a  back¬ 
ground  to  the  sun-dial,  where  they  are  beautiful  as 
long  as  they  stand  in  erect  lines  even  though  the 
blossoms  are  gone  and  only  the  “cheeses”  remain 
studding  the 
stalks  with 
their  curious 
forms.  There 
is  much  dig¬ 
nity  in  all  of 
the  Mallow 
tribe  in  the  gar¬ 
den,  whether 
they  be  our 
beautiful  wild 
Marshmallows, 
the  Holly- 
hocks,  or  our 
friend  the  Rose 
of  Sharon. 

We  are  apt 
to  think  and 
speak  of  a  sun¬ 
dial  as  being 
suited  to  a 
flower  garden  ; 
but  it  is  equally  so  for  an  expanse  of  lawn,  or  even 
to  a  paved  courtyard  with  no  growing  flowers.  Of 
course  its  happiest  home  is  like  every  one  else’s  in 
a  flower  garden.  There  are  certain  gardens  to  which 
the  garden-dial  seems  wonted  and  a  part  thereof; 
these  are  specially  all  old-fashioned  gardens,  and  all 


Sun-dial  with  Peonies  at  Kenmore.  Fredericks¬ 
burg,  Virginia :  Home  of  Betty 
Washington  Lewis. 


250  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


formal  gardens,  and  there  is  a  certain  type  of  garden 
which  promises  the  presence  of  a  sun-dial.  It  is 
impossible  to  formulate  a  description  of  such  a  one, 
nor  can  you  give  any  details  by  which  to  know 

of  the  treasure  within. 
Sometimes  the  slightest 
hint  will  suggest  the 
presence  of  a  sun-dial 
to  you  ;  sometimes  you 
have  an  inspiration.  I 
was  driving  along  a  Long 
Island  road,  on  the  out¬ 
skirts  of  a  long-settled 
village,  when  we  passed 
an  old  house  with  grand 
central  chimney  flanked 
by  a  nebulous  growth 
of  greenery  of  various 
heights,  which  suggested 
evergreen  and  ancient 
shrubbery.  A  hedge 
stretched  across  the  front 
of  the  forecourt,  that 
enclosure  which  we  call 
the  front  yard, — a  hedge 
of  comparatively  old 
growth  for  America. 
An  aged  negro  was  trimming  this  hedge  with  an 
old  cavalry  sword,  which  he  gallantly  and  skilfully 
wielded.  I  know  not  whether  it  was  the  unusual 
sight  of  a  sword  used  as  hedge  shears  —  and  I 
assure  you  it  proved  an  excellent  one  —  or  the 


Sun-dial  at  Stenton,  the  Logan 
House.  Presented  to  the  So¬ 
ciety  of  Colonial  Dames  by 
Horace  J.  Smith.  Esq.,  of  Ger¬ 
mantown,  Pennsylvania. 


The  Setting  of  Sun-dials 


251 


irregular  expanse  of  shrubbery,  but  I  at  once  sus¬ 
pected  the  presence  within  this  garden  of  an  old  sun¬ 
dial  ;  and  when  we  entered,  there  it  was.  The  wooden 
pedestal  had  rotted  away,  and  the  poor  stump  with 
the  rickety  dial-face  lay  prone  among  the  vast  Box 
hedges,  hidden  save  for  such  undaunted  searchers 
as  ourselves.  The  metal  dial-face  was  fastened  by  a 
single  rusted  screw  to  the  pillar,  and  twisted  about, 
and  was  prone  face  down,  with  its  gnomon  thrust  in 
the  ground,  in  an  utter  abasement  and  degradation, 
which  resembled  in  a  half-comic  manner  the  grinding 
of  a  nose  in  the  dirt ;  which  resemblance,  of  nose  to 
gnomon,  the  poet  sung  in  Cynthia's  Revel ,  when 
“her  nose  was  the  gnomon  of  Love’s  dial  1 ,  to  tell 
you  how  runs  your  heart.”  1  carefully  pushed  the 
decaying  pedestal  from  under  the  edge  of  the  heavy 
Box  and  turned  the  dial-face  to  the  light,  and  then 
brushed  off  the  decayed  leaves  and  earth  with  which 
it  was  caked.  I  read  thereon  in  well-worn  letters 
these  ironic  words,  Omnibus  exemplum  et  regula  — 

A  PATTERN  AND  A  RULE  FOR  ALL. 

Alas,  poor  dial  !  thou  wert  a  pattern  and  a  rule 
but  for  a  short  time  and  season  ! 


CHAPTER  XI 

SUN-DIAL  MOTTOES 

“A  Sun-dial  motto  should  be  as  short  as  the  Posy  on  a  Ring  ; 
as  Clear  as  the  Sun  that  shines  on  the  Dial’s  Face  ;  and  as  True  as 
Christian  Ethics.” 


NE  thought  cannot  fail  to  come 
to  all  who  read  any  consid¬ 
erable  number  of  sun-dial 
mottoes,  —  a  sense  of  their 
inherent  refinement  and  grace. 
They  cannot  be  coarse,  nor 
clumsy,  nor  scarcely  ungra¬ 
cious.  Of  course  they  vary 
in  happiness  of  conception, 
but  all  seem  refined.  I  suppose  no  one  would  in¬ 
scribe  a  motto  on  a  sun-dial  until  he  or  she  had 
given  ample  thought  to  the  wording,  and  had  indeed 
meditated  deeply  in  order  to  seize  or  shape  some 
poetic  thought  to  be  a  fitting  voice  for  the  serious 
and  dignified  dial. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  a  full  list  of  dial  mot¬ 
toes.  The  curious  reader  can  find  them  in  many 
languages  to  the  number  of  sixteen  hundred  in  Mrs. 
Gatty’s  Book  of  Sun-dials.  Baron  Edmund  de  Riviere 
published  another  long  list.  Early  writers  on  dialling 

2  <J2 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


253 


give  many  suitable  mottoes.  I  had  collected  sun-dial 
mottoes  in  various  languages  for  many  years  before  I 
saw  Mrs.  Gatty’s  book,  but  I  found  on  comparison 
that  she  had  nearly  all  that  I  had  gathered,  besides 
many  more  ;  still,  I  will  give  here  some  of  the  inter- 


Sun-dial  on  Bridge,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

esting  ones  from  my  collection.  Many  in  the  larger 
gatherings  are  valueless  as  a  motto  for  use  on  ordi¬ 
nary  dials. 

One  almost  unvarying  characteristic  of  the  sun¬ 
dial  motto  may  be  noted,  —  its  solemnity.  A  very 


254  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

few  are  jocose,  a  few  are  cheerful,  nearly  all  are  sol¬ 
emn,  many  are  sad,  even  gloomy.  They  teach  no 
light  lesson  of  life,  but  a  regard  of  the  passing  of 
every  day,  every  hour,  as  a  serious  thing.  Biblical 
texts  offer  a  vast  field  for  culling  sun-dial  mottoes. 
The  very  best  to  my  mind  —  my  favorite  motto  — 
is  this  solemn  warning:  — 

Our  days  on  earth  are  as  a  shadow ,  and  there  is  none  abid¬ 
ing . —  i  Chronicles  xx.  15. 

Opening  the  Bible  wholly  at  random,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  fortune-seekers  of  old,  my  eyes  fall 
on  these  noble  lines  :  — 

Truly  the  light  is  siveet  and  a  pleasant  thing  it  is  for  the  eyes 
to  behold  the  sun.  —  Ecclesiastes  xi.  7. 

As  a  servant  earnestly  desireth  the  shadow. — Job  vii.  2. 

All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  voait  till  my  change 
come. —  Job  xiv.  14. 

Behold  now  is  the  accepted  time.  —  2  Corinthians  vi.  2. 

I  have  considered  the  days  of  old  and  the  years  that  are  past. 
—  Psalm  lxxvii.  5. 

His  time  passeth  away  like  a  shadow.  —  Psalm  cxliv.  4. 

Lord  teach  us  to  number  our  days  rightly  and  to  apply  our 
hearts  to  wisdom.  —  Psalm  xc.  14. 

While  ye  have  light ,  believe  in  the  light.  —  St.  John  xxii.  36. 

Let  there  be  light ;  and  there  zuas  light.  —  Genesis  i.  3. 

Man  is  like  a  thing  of  nought.  His  time  passeth  away  like 
a  shadow.  —  Psalm  cxliv.  4. 

Abide  with  us,  O  Lord ,  for  it  is  toward  evening.  —  St.  Luke 
xxiv.  29. 

So  teach  us  to  number  our  days  that  ive  may  apply  our  hearts 
unto  wisdom.  —  Psalm  xc.  12. 

Oh,  reme/nber  how  short  my  time  is.  —  Psalm  lxxxix.  47. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


255 


He  brought  back  the  shadow  by  degrees .  —  2  Kings  xx.  1 1. 
The  Lord's  name  is  praised  from  the  rising  up  of  the  sun  to 
the  going  down  of  the  same.  —  Psalms  cxiii.  3. 


This  last  text  and  parts  of  it  are  a  favorite  choice 
for  mottoes ;  and  in  Latin  also.  In  Northampton, 
England,  on  the 


Oueen’s  Cross  were 
four  sun-dials,  each 
bearing  a  few  Latin 
words  of  this  text. 

This  cross  is  shown  on 
this  page  in  its  present 
condition ;  it  was  set 
up  by  Edward  I  in 
memory  of  his  wife, 

Eleanor  of  Castile,  and 
has  been  sadly  tinkered 
with  and  the  dials  re¬ 
moved.  It  was  a  fre¬ 
quent  motto  on  French 
churches.  In  Kircher’s 
Ars  Magna  Lucis  et 
Umbrae  (1646)  is  a 
curious  exposition  of 
this  verse.  A  great 
folding  plate  is  given, 
having  twenty-four  dials  set  in  the  form  of  a  tree, 
and  four  more  at  each  corner.  From  this  tree  radi¬ 
ates  this  verse  in  thirty-four  different  languages. 
On  a  scroll  is  the  text,  Sicut  oliva  fructifora  in  domo 
Dei.  This  plate  was  intended  to  have  been  mounted 


Cross  at  Northampton,  England. 


256  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


on  a  board,  and  each  dial  was  to  have  a  gnomon 
affixed,  which  would  then  show  the  time  of  the  day 
at  the  places  named.  The  size  and  shape  of  each 


Pillar-dial  in  Graveyard  at  Dean  Row,  Cheshire,  England. 


gnomon  is  carefully  given.  This  would  form  a 
splendid  triumph  in  gnomonics. 

Some  familiar  mottoes  are  seen  on  many  dials. 
They  are  certainly  common,  and  some  are  common¬ 
place,  but  they  are  suited  to  their  position. 

I  LABOR  HERE  WITH  ALL  MY  MIGHT 
TO  TELL  THE  HOUR  BY  DAY  AND  NIGHT. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


257 


Sometimes  these  lines  are  added  :  — 

AS  CAREFUL,  THEN,  RE  SURE  THOU  BE, 

TO  SERVE  THY  GOD  AS  I  SERVE  THEE. 

or 

IF  THOU  WILT  BE  ADVISED  BY  ME, 
l’LL  SERVE  MY  GOD  AS  I  SERVE  THEE. 

Mrs.  Gatty  gives  an  old  “clock-paper”  which, 
neatly  written  and  framed  in  colored  paper,  was 
placed  under  an  ancient  timepiece  :  — 

HERE  MY  MRS.  BIDS  ME  STAND 

AND  MARK  THE  TIME  WITH  FAITHFUL  HAND; 

WHAT  IS  HER  WILL  IS  MY  DELIGHT, 

TO  TELL  THE  HOURS  BY  DAY  AND  NIGHT. 

MRS.  BE  WISE  AND  LEARN  OF  ME 
TO  SERVE  THY  GOD  AS  I  SERVE  THEE. 

A  hundred  and  more  years  ago  the  works  of  a 
watch  were  entirely  detached  from  the  case,  and  cir¬ 
cular  pieces  of  ornamental  paper  were  placed  within 
the  case  to  protect  the  works.  These  discs  of  paper 
were  known  as  watch-papers;  they  were  cut  in 
tiny  designs,  pricked  with  a  pin,  painted  in  water- 
colors,  and  inscribed  with  verses,  posies  such  as 
were  found  in  posy-rings.  One  watch-paper  which 
I  have  has  a  motto  evidently  adapted  from  the 
motto  of  the  clock-paper  :  — 

IT  IS  MY  WILL  AND  MY  DELIGHT 
TO  TELL  THE  HOURS  OF  DAY  AND  NIGHT; 

and  in  a  manuscript  collection  of  posies  for  watch- 
papers  is  this  similar  verse  :  — 


s 


258  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


HEAR  ME  TICK  AT  YOUR  COMMAND 
AND  MARK  THE  TIME  WITH  TRUTHFUL  HAND 
BE  THOU  WISE  AND  LEARN  OF  ME 
TO  SERVE  THY  GOD  AS  I  SERVE  THEE. 

Other  everyday  mottoes  on  sun-dials  are  :  — 

A  CLOCK  THE  TIME  MAY  WRONGLY  TELL; 

I,  NEVER,  IF  THE  SUN  SHINE  WELL. 

AS  TIME  AND  HOURS  DO  PASS  AWAY 
SO  DOTH  THE  LIFE  OF  MAN  DECAY. 

time’s  GLASS  AND  SCYTHE 
THY  LIFE  AND  DEATH  DECLARE. 

SPEND  WELL  THY  TIME 
AND  FOR  DEATH  PREPARE. 

BE  THE  DAY  WEARY, 

BE  THE  DAY  LONG, 

SOON  IT  RINGS 
TO  EVEN  SONG. 

AS  TIME  DOTH  HASTE, 

SO  LIFE  DOTH  WASTE. 

LIGHT  RULES  ME 
THE  SHADOW,  THEE. 

A  very  numerous  “  cou- 
sinry  ”  of  mottoes  is  that 
which  in  Latin  runs,  Sun'dl^' at  Barnclu,lth’ Cadzow 

,  .  .  Forest,  Scotland. 

numero  boras  nisi  serenas. 

This  was  said  to  be  the  favorite  dial  motto  of  Ten¬ 
nyson.  In  its  various  forms  it  is  doubtless  the 
most  popular  of  all  the  sun-dial  mottoes.  In  this 
modification  it  was  chosen  by  Queen  Alexandra  for 
the  sun-dial  at  Sandringham  (see  page  259),  the 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


259 

home  for  so  many  years  of  Edward  VII  when  Prince 
of  Wales :  — 

LET  OTHERS  TELL  OF  STORMS  AND  SHOWERS, 
i’ll  only  count  your  SUNNY  HOURS. 


Vertical  Dial  at  Sandringham,  England,  residence  of  King  Edward  Vll 

of  England. 


260  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

I  COUNT  THE  BRIGHT  HOURS  ONLY 

was  on  Prince  Albert  Victor’s  dial.  This  was  an 
octagonal  pillar  with  several  dials  which  stood  in 
front  of  the  Exhibition  Buildings  in  Edinburgh  in 
i  886.  The  Exhibition  was  opened  by  the  prince  and 
the  dial  named  for  him.  Other  mottoes  were :  — 

AS  A  SERVANT  EARNESTLY  DESIRETH  THE  SHADOW. 

LIGHT  IS  THE  SHADOW  OF  GOD. 

TIME  AND  TIDE  TARRY  FOR  NO  MAN. 

TIME  IS  THE  CHRYSALIS  OF  ETERNITY. 

WELL  ARRANGED  TIME  IS  THE  SUREST  SIGN  OF  A  WELL 

ARRANGED  MIND. 

TIME  AS  HE  PASSES  US  HAS  A  DOVE’S  WING, 
UNSOILED  AND  SWIFT  AND  OF  A  SILKEN  SOUND. 

TAKE  TENT  o’  TIME  ERE  TIME  BE  TENT. 

On  a  fine  dial  in  the  Isle  of  Wight  this  reads  :  — 

TAK  TINT  o’  TIME  ERE  TIME  TAK  TINT  o’  THEE. 

To  return  to  our  motto-group.  The  form  on 
the  sun-dial  at  the  fort  at  Delhi  reads:  — 

I  COUNT  NONE  BUT  SUNNY  HOURS. 

Others  are  :  — 

I  COUNT  THE  SUNNY  HOURS;  I  MARK  ONLY  SUNNY 
HOURS;  I  MARK  NONE  BUT  SUNNY  HOURS;  I  NOTE  THE 
BRIGHT  HOURS  OF  DAY;  I  NUMBER  NONE  BUT  SUNNY 
HOURS;  I  ONLY  MARK  BRIGHT  HOURS. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


26 1 


On  a  slate-dial  owned  by  the  Duchess  of  Cleve¬ 
land,  which  was  captured  by  the  allied  forces  in 
1854,  is  this  motto  :  — 

I  MARK  NOT  THE  HOURS  UNLESS  THEY  BE  BRIGHT, 

I  MARK  NOT  THE  HOURS  OF  DARKNESS  AND  NIGHT. 

MY  PROMISE  IS  SOLELY  TO  FOLLOW  THE  SUN 

AND  POINT  OUT  THE  COURSE  HIS  CHARIOT  DOTH  RUN. 

A  Latin  variant  is,  Horas  nullus  nisi  aureas — I 
count  none  but  golden  hours.  This  is  exquisitely 
delineated  on  a 
vertical  dial  de¬ 
signed  and  set 
by  A.  G.  Hum¬ 
phrey,  Esq.,  at 
Crowborough 
Cross,  Sussex,  on 
a  pole  in  his 
garden.  The 
motto  and  nu¬ 
merals  are  in  open 
iron  work  on  a 
semi-transparent 
gilt  ground, 
which  shines  out 
gloriously  in  the 
sunlight.  Thus  the  motto  has  a  double  meaning. 

Another  allied  motto  reads  :  — 

THE  HOURS,  UNLESS  THE  HOURS  BE  BRIGHT, 

IT  IS  NOT  MINE  TO  MARK; 

I  AM  THE  PROPHET  OF  THE  LIGHT, 

DUMB  WHEN  THE  SUN  IS  DARK. 


Sun-dial  at  Edwin  Forrest  Home,  now 
Mount  St.  Vincent  Convent. 


262  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

In  an  old  album  there  is  written  this  poem  by 
Professor  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,  with  a  note 


The  Lodge  at  Charlecote  House,  Stratford-on-Avon. 

saying  that  he  saw  the  motto  on  a  sun-dial  at 
Worms  :  — 

To  A.  G.  E. 

Horas  Non  Numero  Nisi  Serenas. 

“  The  sun  when  it  shines  on  a  clear  cloudless  sky 
Marks  the  time  on  my  disc  in  figures  of  light ; 

If  clouds  gather  o’er  me,  unheeded  they  fly, 

I  note  not  the  hours  except  they  be  bright. 

“  So  when  I  review  all  the  scenes  that  have  past 

Between  me  and  thee,  be  they  dark,  be  they  light. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


263 


I  forget  what  was  dark,  the  light  I  hold  fast, 

I  note  not  the  hours  except  they  be  bright.” 

Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 


Washington,  March,  1845. 


A  sun-dial  motto  may  be  simple  in  its  wording  and 
it  must  be  lucid.  Lucidity  is  often  confounded  with 
simplicity  ;  but  the  former  is  a  quality  of  style,  and 
the  latter  of  thought.  A  straining  after  rhyme  must 
not  be  permitted  to  make  the  thought  of  the  motto 
obscure.  For  instance,  this  motto  from  Lucile  is 
pretty,  but  it  is  not  lucid ;  in  fact,  it  is  not  true :  — 

THE  DIAL 

RECEIVES  MANY  SHADES,  AND  EACH  POINTS  TO  THE  SUN, 
THE  SHADOWS  ARE  MANY,  THE  SUNLIGHT  IS  ONE. 

On  the  sun-dial  of  Thornby  Church,  North¬ 
amptonshire,  are  these  serious  lines:  — 

MARK.  WELL  MY  SHADE,  AND  SERIOUSLY  ATTEND 
THE  COMMON  LESSON  OF  A  SILENT  FRIEND, 

FOR  TIME  AND  LIFE  SPEED  RAPIDLY  AWAY; 
NEITHER  CAN  YOU  RECALL  THE  FORMER  DAY. 

YOU  ARE  NOT  ABLE  TO  RECALL  THE  PAST, 

BUT  LIVE  THOU  THIS  DAY  AS  IF  THE  LAST. 


At  Oxford  there  is  a  sun-dial  bearing  the  arms  of 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Wharton,  who  was  Lord-lieutenant 
of  Oxfordshire  from  1691  to  1702;  it  bears  these 
clever  lines  :  — 


A  MOMENT - MARK  HOW  SMALL  A  SPACE 

THE  DIAL  SHOWS  UPON  THE  FACE; 

YET  WASTE  BUT  ONE - AND  YOU  WILL  SEE 

OF  HOW  GREAT  MOMENT  IT  CAN  BE. 


264  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


One  of  the  most  exquisite  and  perfect  of  all  antique 
English  sun-dials  partakes  of  the  lectern-shaped 
type.  It  is  shown  facing  this  page.  This  dial  is 
at  Moccas  Court,  Herefordshire,  the  seat  of  Rev.  Sir 
George  Cornewall,  Bart.  It  has  many  fine  mottoes; 


Sun-dial  at  Brockenhurst  Park,  Hants. 

in  Latin  is  a  verse  of  the  Nineteenth  Psalm,  “The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament 
showeth  his  handiwork.”  Also  in  Latin  is  a  text 
from  Deuteronomy  sixth,  “  Love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart.”  Other  mottoes  are  :  Instar  globi 
stat  machina  mundi  —  Like  a  ball  stands  the  frame- 


Sun-dial  at  Moccas  Court,  Herefordshire. 


* 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


265 


work  of  the  world  ;  Si  culpare  velis ,  culpabilis  esse 
cavebis.  Nemo  sine  crimine  vivit :  idcirco  ne  temere 
judicto  —  If  thou  wouldst  blame,  thou  wilt  beware  of 
being  blameworthy.  No  one  lives  without  reproach, 
therefore  judge  not  rashly ;  Sol  est  lux  et  gloria 
mundi —  The  sun  is  the  light  and  glory  of  the  world. 

Th  ere  is  also  this  quaint  English  verse:  — 

TYME  PASSETH  AND  SPEAKETH  NOT, 

DETH  COMETH  AND  WARNETH  NOT, 

AMENDE  TODAY  AND  SLACK  NOT, 

TOMORROW  THYSELF  CANNOT. 

This  dial  is  thought  to  be  of  the  time  of  Charles  1 1 . 

Mr.  Evans  has  a  very  interesting  Manx  dial  made 
of  marble,  which  has  several  fine  inscriptions.  One 
is  most  quaint  and  old-fashioned,  and  is  a  favorite 
of  mine :  — 

WHILST  PHCEBUS  ON  ME  SHINES, 

THEN  VIEW  MY  SHADE  AND  LINES. 

There  is  a  group  of  Latin  mottoes  which  are  often 
found  :  Sic  transit  hora  —  Thus  passes  the  hour  ;  Sic 
tempora  labuntur  —  Thus  glides  time;  Sic  transit 
gloria  mundi  —  Thus  passes  the  glory  of  the  world ; 
Sic  transimus  omnes  —  Thus  pass  we  all;  Sic  transit 
hora — Thus  passes  the  hour;  Sic  vita  —  So  is  life; 
Sic  vita  fugit  —  Thus  life  flies;  Sic  vita  transit  — 
So  life  passes.  With  many  variants  these  are  seen  on 
many  English  churches  and  houses,  and  on  garden- 
dials  in  Scotland,  England,  France,  Holland,  and 
Italy.  Sic  transit  glori  mundi  is  upon  a  brass  sun¬ 
dial  at  Matale,  Ceylon,  engraved  in  curious  char¬ 
acters,  the  initials  being  shaped  like  animals. 


266  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

On  the  tower  of  Shillington  Church,  Bedford¬ 
shire,  a  clock  and  sun-dial  were  formerly  found  with 
two  exceptionally  happy  mottoes.  The  sun-dial  had 
this  :  Sine  soleo  sileo ;  and  the  clock  :  Sine  sole  loquor. 

A  sun-dial  may  speak  in  solemn  voice  and  yet  not 
be  offensively  despairing.  I  particularly  dislike  such 
mottoes  as  this  on  the  dial  at  Brougham  Hall,  West¬ 
moreland  :  — 

O  WRETCHED  MAN  REMEMBER  THOU  MUST  DIE, 

SENCE  ALL  THINGS  PASSE  AND  NOTHINGE  CERTAIN  BE. 

The  date  cut  on  this  dial  is  1660,  and  at  that 
time  and  in  that  condition  of  English  history  there 
were  many  to  whom  thoughts  of  death  and  solemn 
warnings  and  dread  of  hell  were  as  the  breath  of 
life.  A  skull  and  hour-glass  further  decorate  this 
dial.  Fortunately  it  bears  on  another  face  the 
beautiful  and  appropriate  words,  Tempus  ut  umbra 
preterit  —  Time  passes  by  as  a  shadow;  and  also 
that  dignified  but  most  common  of  all  dial  mottoes, 
Ut  hora  sic  vita —  Life  is  as  an  hour. 

I  own  a  handsome  brass  sun-dial  about  a  foot  in 
diameter  which  bears  the  date  1748,  and  these  lines, 
evidently  added  at  a  later  date  :  — 

HASTE,  TRAVELLER,  ON  THY  WAY, 

THE  SUN  IS  SINKING  LOW. 

HE  SHALL  RETURN  AGAIN, 

BUT  NEVER  THOU. 

This  always  seemed  to  me  an  ungracious  and 
inhospitable  answer  to  the  chance  passer-by,  who 
sociably  halted  to  learn  the  time  o’  the  day  ;  but  I 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


267 


find  a  similar  sentiment  conveyed  in  many  dial 
mottoes,  —  a  request  not  to  dawdle  around,  —  and 
likewise  a  solemn  warning  to  lose  no  time  thus, 
since  the  return  of  the  sun  might  not  bring  back  the 
day  to  the  dial  reader  as  to  the  dial. 


Vertical  Sun-dial  at  Germantown,  Pennsylvania. 


E.  V.  B.  in  her  book  A  Garden  of  Pleasure  tells 
of  a  beautiful  motto  of  allied  thought  upon  a  dial 
in  a  Riviera  garden  :  — 

u  Io  vade  e  vengo  ogm  giorno 
Ma  tu  audrai  senza  ritorno.” 

“  I  go  and  come  every  day. 

But  thou  shalt  go  without  returning.” 


i6 8  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


A  particularly  fine  motto  is  this  :  Transit  umbra ; 
lux  permanet  —  The  shadow  passes;  light  remains. 


Sun-dial  at  Canon’s  Ashby,  Northamptonshire;  Seat  of  Sir  Henry 

Dryden,  Bart. 


Its  simplicity  increases  its  force,  and  the  sentiment  is 
grateful  to  every  one. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


269 


WHEN  THOU  DOST  LOOK  UPON  MY  FACE, 

TO  LEARN  THE  TIME  OF  DAY, 

THINK  HOW  MY  SHADOW  KEEPS  ITS  PACE, 

AS  THY  LIFE  FLIES  AWAY. 

TAKE,  MORTAL,  THIS  ADVICE  FROM  ME, 

AND  SO  RESOLVE  TO  SPEND 
THY  LIFE  ON  EARTH,  THAT  HEAVEN  SHALL  BE 
THY  HOME,  WHEN  TIME  SHALL  END. 

This  was  taken  from  the  sun-dial  on  or  near 
Dromore  Castle,  County  Kerry,  Ireland;  its  date 
is  1871. 

A  severe  motto  reads  :  — 

I  NOTE  THE  TIME  THAT  YOU  WASTE. 

A  very  spirited  motto  is  in  Latin  :  Horam  sole 
nolente  nego —  I  tell  not  the  hour  when  the  sun 
will  not. 

In  the  Ulster  Journal  of  Archeology  for  Octo¬ 
ber,  1901,  is  a  fine  description  of  an  interest¬ 
ing  old  sun-dial  from  the  parish  church  at  Bangor. 
It  is  of  slate,  elaborately  carved  on  both  sides,  and 
was  set  in  a  sloping  position  with  the  outside  circu¬ 
lar  edge  tending  upward.  It  has  several  curious 
inscriptions,  one  being  the  old  almanac  rhyme, — 

THIRTIE  DAYES  HATH  SEPTEMBER, 

APRIL,  JUNE,  AND  NOVEMBER; 

FEBRUARIE  HATH  28  ALONE, 

AND  ALL  THE  REST  30  AND  ONE. 

163O.  DEC. 

On  page  250  is  an  old  sun-dial  which  now  stands 
in  the  garden  of  the  Logan  Mansion,  Stenton,  the 


270  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

house  now  occupied  by  the  Society  of  Colonial 
Dames.  The  dial  was  given  to  the  Society  by  Hor¬ 
ace  J.  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Germantown,  one  of  the  few 
descendants  of  the  Logan  family.  On  one  side 
are  the  incised  words,  we  must  — ( sell  dial,  i.e ., 
die-all).  This  clumsy  joke  is  common  on  English 
dials.  It  appears  under  a  mural  sun-dial  in  the 
engraving  of  Hogarth’s  picture  of  Chairing  the 
Member.  The  painting  had  the  fine  motto,  Pulvis 
et  umbra  sumus  —  We  are  dust  and  shadows;  well 
suited  to  the  skull  and  cross-bones  accompanying  it. 
But  the  engraver  evidently  thought  himself  a  better 
humorist  than  the  painter,  and  replaced  the  Latin 
motto  with  we  must — .  The  joke  is  older  than 
Hogarth.  The  Horologiographia  Optica  by  one 
Morgan,  published  in  1652,  ends  with  it.  On  a 
church  dial  is  this  verse:  — 

life’s  but  a  shadow, 
man’s  BUT  DUST; 

THIS  DIALL  SAYS 
DY  ALL  WE  MUST. 

There  is  a  very  quaint  variant  of  this  motto  on  a 
farm-house  dial  at  Millrigy,  near  Penroth,  in  the 
form  of  a  dialogue  between  the  Sun-dial  and  the 
Passer-by  :  — 

Diall.  STAIE  PASSINGER. 

TELL  ME  MY  NAME, 

THY  NATURE. 

Pass.  THY  NAME  IS  DIE 

ALL.  I  AM  A  MORTALL 


CREATURE. 


Sun-dial  at  Ivy  Lodge,  Germantown,  Pennsylvania ;  Seat  of 
Horace  Jay  Smith,  Esq. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


271 


Diall.  SINCE  MY  NAME 

AND  THY  NATURE 
SOE  AGREE, 

THINK  ON  THYSELF 
WHEN  THOU  LOOKEST 
UPON  ME. 

Another  beautiful  dial,  with  musing  figure  point¬ 
ing  to  the  dial-face,  is  at  Ivy  Lodge,  the  home  of 
Horace  J.  Smith,  Esq.,  Germantown,  Pennsylvania. 
It  is  shown  facing  page  270. 

On  French  dials  there  is  a  jocose  motto  which  is 
not  uncommon.  A  cock  is  painted  on  the  dial-face 
and  the  words,  Je  chanterai  quand  tu  sonneras ;  or, 
Lorsque  tu  sonneras  je  chant e.  This  is,  of  course, 
the  challenge  of  the  silent  cock  to  the  silent  dial. 

At  Linburn,  Midlothian,  Scotland,  Ebenezer  Er- 
skine  Scott,  Esq.,  erected  two  very  fine  modern  dials. 
One,  shown  facing  page  172,  is  an  obelisk-shaped 
dial  of  good  proportions.  The  other,  facing  page 
274,  is  a  facet-headed  dial  of  great  beauty.  Both 
are  set  on  octagonal  raised  steps.  The  latter  dial 
is  nine  feet  in  height,  and  was  designed  by  Thomas 
Ross,  Esq.,  F.S.A.  On  the  upper  step  is  engraved 
verse  3  of  Psalm  cxiii.,  “  From  the  rising  of  the 
sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same,  the  Lord’s  name 
is  to  be  praised.”  On  the  lower  steps  are  graceful 
verses  which  have  a  curious  story  ;  they  run  thus  :  — 

AMIDDST  YE  FLOW  RES 

I  TELL  YE  HOWRES. 

TIME  WANES  AWAYF. 

AS  FLOWRES  DECAYE. 


272  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

BEYOND  YE  TOMBE 

FFRESHE  FFLOWERETS  BLOOME. 

SOE  MAN  SHALL  RYSE 
ABOVE  YE  SKYES. 

These  mottoes  were  written  by  Rev.  Greville  J. 
Chester,  and  appear  in  his  novel  Aurelia ,  in  his  de¬ 
scription  of  the  bishop’s  garden,  with  “  a  double 


Sun-dial  in  Mrs,  Bell’s  Garden,  Cheshire,  England. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


273 


row  of  Hollyhock,  spires  of  flame  and  rose-color, 
and  white  and  crimson ;  and  bunches  of  Golden 
Aaron’s  Rod,  and  Canterbury  Bells,  and  Bee  Lark¬ 
spur,  and  Prince’s  Feathers;  and  later  on  in  the 
year  tufts  of  purple  golden-eyed  Michaelmas 
Daisies  :  and  at  the  end  of  all,  upon  a  lump  of 
turf,  stood  a  gray  time-tinged  sun-dial,  inscribed 
on  its  four  sides  with  the  quaint  distiches  devised 
by  Bishop  Edmund  Redyngton,  who  set  it  up 
A.  D.  1665.” 

So  vivid  was  this  description  that  many  read¬ 
ers  placed  implicit  confidence  in  the  reality  of  the 
old  sun-dial  and  its  ancient  verses,  and  the  lines 
have  been  copied  on  others  than  the  Linburn 

dial. 

There  are  two  old  sun-dials  in  California.  One 
is  in  the  ancient  Mission  of  San  Juan  Bautista,  San 
Benito  County ;  it  was  brought  by  pious  padres 
from  Spain  in  1794,  and  is  the  official  clock  of  the 
Mission.  The  other  was  set  up  at  Mare  Island  in 
1854  by  Admiral  Farragut.  Its  motto  runs,  Como 
la  sombra  huye  la  hora  —  Like  the  shadow  flies  the 
hour. 

Many  English  poets  have  had  the  writing  of  dial 
mottoes,  and  many  verses  of  English  poetry  have 
served  as  mottoes.  Dr.  Watts  wrote  a  characteris¬ 
tically  gloomy  verse  for  Lady  Almy  at  Newington 
in  1 73  5  :  — 

SO  ROLLS  THE  SUN,  SO  WEARS  THE  DAY 
AND  MEASURES  OUT  LIFE’S  PAINFUL  WAY  ; 

THROUGH  SHIFTING  SCENES  OF  SHADE  AND  LIGHT 
TO  ENDLESS  DAY  OR  ENDLESS  NIGHT. 


274  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


A  favorite  verse  of  mine  was  written  by  Walter 
Savage  Landor,  but  I  do  not  know  whether  it  has 
ever  been  used  on  a  dial. 

IK  HIS  OWN  IMAGE  THE  CREATOR  MADE 

HIS  OWN  PURE  SUNBEAM  QJUICKENED  THEE - O  MAN  ! 

THOU  BREATHING  DIAL  !  SINCE  THY  NAME  BEGAN 
THE  PRESENT  HOUR  WAS  EVER  MARKED  BY  SHADE. 

I  wonder  whether  Chaucer’s  lines  have  been  set 
on  a  dial  :  — 

“  For  tho’  we  sleep,  or  wake,  or  rome,  or  ride. 

Ay  fleeth  the  time,  it  will  no  man  abide.” 

or  Spenser’s  fine  line  :  — 

“  None  can  call  again  the  passed  time.” 

Another  line  which  suggests  itself  as  appropriate 
for  a  sun-dial  is  Tennyson’s  line  in  The  Ancient 
Sage  :  — 

“  Make  the  passing  shadow  serve  thy  will.” 

How  exquisite  are  the  lines  of  the  “  Prince  of 
Poets,”  Ronsard  :  — 

“  Le  temps  s' en  va,  le  temps  s' en  va,  madame  ! 

Less  !  le  temps  non  :  mais  nous  nous  en  a  lions. ' ' 

Austin  Dobson  thus  renders  them  :  — 

“  Time  goes,  you  say  ?  Ah,  no  ! 

Alas,  Time  stays,  we  go  !  " 

Hudibras  furnishes  this  couplet  for  several  Eng¬ 
lish  dials  :  — 


Facet-headed  Garden-dial  at  Linburn,  Midlothian,  Scotland. 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


275 


AS  TRUE  AS  THE  DIAL  TO  THE  SUN 
ALTHOUGH  IT  BE  NOT  SHONE  UPON. 

And  Addison’s  Paraphrase  of  the  Nineteenth 
Psalm  gives  these  two  lines  :  — 


THOU  ART,  O  LORD,  THE 
LIFE  AND  LIGHT 
OF  ALL  THIS  WONDROUS 
WORLD  WE  SEE. 


From  Shake¬ 
speare’s  seventy- 
seventh  Sonnet  are 
these  lines  :  — 


THOU  BY  THE  DIAL’S 
SHADY  STEALTH  MAY 
KNOW 

time’s  THIEVISH  PROG¬ 
RESS  TO  ETERNITY. 


Quarles’s  Emblems 
furnish  several  whin¬ 
ing  verses  for  mot¬ 
toes.  Emblem 
Number  13,  Book  Sun-dial  at  Bramhall,  Cheshire. 

Ill,  is  a  sun-dial.  The  Bible  verse  is  from  Job: 
“  Are  not  my  days  few  ?  Cease  then  and  let  me 
alone,  that  I  may  bewail  myself  a  little.”  These  lines 
are  his  verses  and  are  printed  on  an  English  dial  :  — 


READ  ON  THIS  DIAL  HOW  THE  SHADES  DEVOUR 
MY  SHORT-LIVED  WINTER’S  DAY.  HOUR  EATS  UP  HOUR 
ALAS  !  THE  TOTAL’S  BUT  FROM  EIGHT  TO  FOUR. 


276  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 
Another  stanza  has  also  been  used  :  — 


NOR  DO  I  BEG  THIS  SLENDER  NICHE,  TO  WHILE 
MY  TIME  AWAY,  OR  SAFELY  TO  BEGUILE 

MY  THOUGHTS  WITH  JOY  - THERE’S  NOTHING  WORTH  A 

SMILE. 


TIME  FLIES.  LINES  RISE  AND 
SHADOWS  FALL 


LET  IT  PASS  BY 


LOVE  REIGNS  FOREVER  OVER  ALL. 


These  lines  are  on  a  sun¬ 
dial  owned  by  Lord  Ronald 
Gower  ;  they  are  the  English 
rendering  of  the  Latin  verses 
which  are  on  the  dial  at 
Old  Place,  Lindfield,  Sussex, 
see  page  facing  226. 

Far  more  beautiful  are  the 
lines  by  Dr.  Henry  Van 
Dyke  given  on  page  223. 

Mr.  Evans  gives  me  a 
group  of  sun-dial  mottoes 
which  are  not  published  in 
Mrs.  Gatty’s  book,  nor  in 
its  latest  edition  by  Mrs. 
Eden.  I  cannot  give  them 
all  in  full.  Amour  pour 

Dial  in  Rose  Garden  at  .  •  1 

Broughton  Castle.  Amour,  on  an  ivory  porta¬ 

ble  quadrant  dial,  French, 
in  Mr.  Evans’s  collection. 


AS  THE  SUN  RUNS 
SO  DEATH  COMES, 


Sun-dial  Mottoes 


277 


on  a  horizontal  dial  made  by  “Adam  Stear,  1660,” 
belonging  now  to  Rev.  G.  W.  W.  Minnes,  The 
Cliff,  Weston,  Southampton.  Curriculum  meum  per- 
ficiam  donee  advenerint  dominus  —  1  will  run  mv 
course  until  the  lord  shall  come,  on  a  German 
dial  of  gilt-brass  resembling  an  astrolabe,  sixteenth 
century.  Jus  turn  et  eequum —  just  and  fair,  1717, 
and  lucet  omnibus  —  it  shines  fully,  on  a  large 
French  portable  dial  in  Mr.  Evans’s  collection. 
Non  sibi  soli  vivere  sed  et  aliis  proficire  vult  —  it 

WISHES  TO  LIVE  NOT  FOR  ITSELF  ALONE,  BUT  ALSO 

to  be  of  use  to  others,  on  a  brass  portable  dial, 
probably  Spanish,  by  F.  Hieronimus  de  Arresse, 
1598. 

And  on  a  German  portable  dial  of  brass,  1612, 
with  a  nocturnal  dial  at  the  back,  are  these  German 
legends  :  — 

‘  ‘  Der  Zeiger  sol  gerucket  sein 
Wol  auf  der  sonnen  grad  allein 
Das  instrument  solt  hangen  lan 
Zcigt  der  schat  dir  die  dages  stand  an 

On  the  back  are  these  lines  :  — 

“  Dis  schiblein  mit  dem  lengsten  zan 
Sol  auf  den  tag  des  monats  start 
Durdis  mittel  locb  den  potu  sihe 
Die  regel  auf  den  *  Kochal  ’  zibe 
Dan  zvirdt  zu  bandt 
Die  naebt  stunt  bebant 

When  translated  these  run  :  — 

“  The  pointer  is  to  be  adjusted 
To  the  degree  of  the  sun  alone  ; 


278 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


(When)  the  instrument  is  hung 

The  shadow  will  indicate  to  thee  the  hour  of  the  day.” 

“  The  disc  with  the  longest  notch 
Should  mark  the  day  of  the  month. 

Observe  the  pole  through  the  central  opening. 

Draw  the  movable  rod  to  the  peep-hole. 

Then  the  hour  of  the  night 

Will  be  immediately  revealed  to  you.” 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  SUN-DIAL  AS  A  MEMORIAL 


“  Even  the  dial,  that  stood  on  a  hillock  among  the  departed 

(There  full  a  hundred  years  had  it  stood)  was  embellished  with 
blossoms 

Like  to  the  patriarch  hoary,  the  sage  of  his  kith  and  his  hamlet, 
Who  on  his  birthday  is  crowned  by  children  and  children’s  children. 
So  stood  the  ancient  prophet,  and  mute  with  his  pencil  of  iron 
Marked  on  the  tablet  of  stone,  and  measured  the  time  and  its 
changes, 

While  around  at  his  feet  an  eternity  slumbered  in  quiet.” 

—  Children  of  the  Lord' s  Supper.  Translation  by  Longfellow. 


FRIEND  once  said  to  me 
that  she  did  not  like  a  sun¬ 
dial  in  a  garden  nor  any 
statue,  or  even  a  seat  of  white 
marble,  because  it  seemed  to 
suggest  to  her  a  cemetery. 
There  is  to  me  nothing  som¬ 
bre  in  a  sun-dial,  and  yet  it 
is  certainly  a  meet  furnishing 
of  a  burying-ground.  We  all  know  that  Howard 
the  philanthropist  said  on  his  death-bed  that  he 
wished  a  sun-dial  over  his  grave.  Sir  William  Temple 
ordered  that  his  heart  should  be  placed  in  a  silver 
box  and  buried  under  the  sun-dial  in  his  garden 

279 


280  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


at  Moor  Park.  This  was  for  love  of  his  garden. 
1  know  I  could  not  be  buried  in  a  garden  though 
it  would  be  pleasant  to  sleep  there,  but  I  should, 
I  am  sure,  like  a  sun-dial  over  my  grave.  In 

Ireland  the  old  grave¬ 
yards  have  many  an¬ 
cient  sun-dials,  in  fact 
nearly  all  the  old  dials 
in  Ireland  are  on  tomb¬ 
stones.  In  many  of 
these  the  gnomon  is 
missing ;  and  the  empty 
hole  in  which  the  gno¬ 
mon  once  was  fastened 
is  said  to  have  been 
used  as  a  betrothal  hole. 
The  visits  of  a  priest 
were  rare  in  remote 
communities,  and  when 
he  was  not  at  hand  to 
solemnize  any  marriage, 
bride  and  groom  to¬ 
gether  placed  a  finger 
in  the  empty  hole  in  the 
dial-face  and  pledged 
marriage  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  witnesses.  Whenever  the  priest  appeared 
he  always  remarried  them  in  good,  legal,  and  re¬ 
ligious  form.  This  empty  hole  was  also  called  a 
swearing-hole. 

There  is  shown  on  this  page  an  old  sun-dial  in 
the  shape  of  a  cross  which  stands  in  West  Laurel 


Cross-dial  in  West  Laurel  Cemetery, 
Philadelphia. 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial 


281 


Cemetery,  Philadelphia.  It 
is  in  a  neglected  spot,  much 
grown  up  with  shrubbery,  and 
is  seldom  noted  by  passers-by. 
T  his  form  of  dial  is  particu¬ 
larly  suited  to  a  churchyard 
or  a  cemetery ;  for  the  form 
of  a  cross  should  not  be  used 
lightly.  I  would  not  care  to 
see  a  cross-dial  in  a  garden, 
though  several  English  clergy¬ 
men  have  them. 

Rev.  R.  W.  Essington  has 
erected  several  cross-dials:  one 
at  Shenstone  vicarage,  another 
in  the  churchyard,  another  at 
Newquay,  Cornwall ;  and 
he  wrote  these  lines  as  a 
motto  :  — 


Cross-dial  at  Scotscraig, 
Scotland. 


IF  o’er  the  dial  glides  a  shade,  redeem 

THE  TIME,  FOR  LO,  IT  PASSES  LIKE  A  DREAM  ; 

BUT  IF  ’TIS  ALL  A  BLANK  THEN  MARK  THE  LOSS 
OF  HOURS  UNBLESSED  BY  SHADOWS  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


On  another  dial  he  inscribed  :  — 


THE  HOURS  ARE  GRAVEN  ROUND  THE  CROSSES  SIDES, 
AND  ON  THEM  ALL  IN  TURN  THE  SHADOW  GLIDES; 

IF  THE  SUN  SHINES  AND  DRAWS  A  LINE,  REDEEM 
THE  TIME,  FOR  LO,  IT  PASSES  LIKE  A  DREAM  ; 

BUT  IF  THE  LINE  BE  ABSENT  MARK  THE  LOSS 
OF  HOURS  NOT  RULED  BY  SHADOWS  FROM  THE  CROSS. 


282 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


WEST  SIDE  SHOWING  DIAL 
AND  PEDESTAL  AS  THEY  EXIST 


SUGGESTED  PEDESTAL  AS  BEING 
MORE  IN  KEEFING  WITH  THE  DIAL 
THAN  THE  PRESENT  PEDESTAL- 


On  a  slate  step  at  the  base  of  the  dial  in  the 
vicarage  garden  are  two  mottoes,  one  in  Greek,  one 
in  Hebrew,  meaning,  “  The  cross  gives  the  hour 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial  283 

in  sunshine,”  and  “  Let  there  be  light.”  On  the 
shaft  are  the  Latin  lines:  — 

w  Solis  adit  lux 
Hie  docet  umbra;  crux 
Datur  bora 
Umbram  addit  nox 
Hinc  abit  umbra  vox 
Abit  bora  absit  trior  a  A 

Another  motto  reads  :  — 


o  COUNT  THE  HOURS  AS  ONE  BY  ONE  THEY  FLY 
AND  STAMP  THE  CROSS  UPON  THEM  ERE  THEY  DIE. 


Scotscraig  Cross-dial. 


284  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Hoping  that  the  thought  of  a  cross-dial  will  appeal 
to  many  who  have  in  their  hearts  the  intent  of  some 
memorial,  I  give  on  pages  282,  283,  as  aid  in  mak¬ 
ing  such  a  dial,  drawings  of  the  ancient  cross-dial  at 
Scotscraig,  which  is  ot  exceptional  proportions  and 
beauty.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  made  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  These  drawings  were  gener¬ 
ously  made  for  me  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Robertson,  architect, 
of  Dundee,  Scotland.  And  I  am  sure  my  thanks  to 
him  will  be  echoed  by  my  readers.  Every  elevation 
is  given,  and  in  addition  a  proposed  pedestal,  in  per¬ 
fect  keeping  with  the  design  of  the  moulding  at  the 
top.  The  present  pedestal  of  this  cross-dial  is  com¬ 
paratively  modern. 
The  lettering  could 
be  upon  brass  or 
copper  plates,  but 
the  lines  and  figures 
are  cut  in  the  stone 
of  the  Scotscraig 
dial.  Cut  in  some 
of  our  perfect,  close- 
grained  American 
granite  how  beau¬ 
tiful  this  would  be  ! 
While  I  have  no 
intent  to  advertise 
any  business  house, 
I  can  answer  the  frequent  query,  “  Where  can  I  get 
a  cross-dial  ?  ”  by  referring  the  inquirer  to  the  firm 
F.  Barker  &  Son  of  12  Clerkenwell  Road,  London. 
Their  shop  at  the  above  address  is  but  a  three  min- 


Brass  Cross-dial.  F.  Barker  &  Son, 
London, 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial 


285 


utes’  walk  north  of  the  Aldersgate  Street  Railway 
Station,  and  there  can  be  seen  many  dial-faces  which 
are  not  in  their  catalogue,  and  occasionally  they  can 
supply  old  dials  as  well.  A  beautiful  universal  por¬ 
table  cross-dial  made  for  this  firm  for  a  traveller  in 
India  is  shown  on  page  284. 

At  Newhall,  Penecuik,  in  the  Midlothian,  stands 
a  sun-dial  which  is  a  memorial  to  Allan  Ramsay. 
On  the  shaft  are  five  panels  bearing  carved  de¬ 
signs  relating  to  Ramsay’s  Gentle  Shepherd .  The 
sixth  panel  is  inscribed  :  “  Here  Alexander  Pene¬ 
cuik  of  Newhall,  M.D.,  is  said  to  have  given 
Allan  Ramsay  the  Plot  of  His  Celebrated  Pastoral 
Comedy  of  the  ‘  Gentle  Shepherd.’  ”  On  the  eighth 
panel  are  the  words:  “  Here  Allan  Ramsay  recited  to 
his  Distinguished  and  Literary  Patrons,  as  he  Pro¬ 
ceeded  with  them,  the  Scenes  of  his  Unequalled 
Pastoral  Comedy,  amid  the  Objects  and  the  Char¬ 
acters  introduced  into  it.”  The  eighth  panel  has 
a  motto  :  — 

OBSERVE  HOW  FAST  TIME  HURRIES  PAST 
THEN  USE  EACH  HOUR  WHILE  IN  YOUR  POWER 
FOR  COVER  THE  SUN,  BUT  TIME  FLIES  ON 
PROCEEDING  EVER,  RETURNING  NEVER. 

R.  B.  l8lO. 

Memorials  need  not  be  always  of  the  dead,  but  of 
the  living.  They  may  indicate  some  hero-worship, 
some  literature-love.  I  was  much  impressed  at 
the  home  of  Mrs.  Mabel  Osgood  Wright  with  the 
indelible  impress,  not  of  his  life  alone,  but  of  his 
character,  which  her  father  had  left  upon  his  country 


286  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

home.  A  stranger  could  walk  around  the  grounds 
and  woods  and  know  the  man  who  loved  them  ; 
know,  too,  the  great  names  he  honored,  —  for  here 
the  names  are  chiselled  on  a  rough  boulder  in  the 


Pillar-dial,  Appleby. 

grove  ;  know  his  love  of  Dante,  that  in  this  se¬ 
questered  spot  he  gathered  every  year  on  Dante’s 
birthday  even  the  little  children,  while  he  read  to 
them  passages  from  the  pages  he  loved.  We  should 
have  more  Dante  lovers  had  we  such  leaders  and 
such  inscriptions  of  verses  from  the  poet.  Here  on 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial 


287 


this  vast  stone  pulpit  are  dates,  for  here  he  preached, 
during  the  stirring  days  of  the  Civil  War,  patriotic 


The  Countess’s  Pillar. 

sermons  to  audiences  which  no  church  walls  in  the 
village  were  broad  enough  to  hold.  Here  might  be 
inscribed  the  victories  lor  which  he  thanked  God. 


288  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

On  page  286  is  shown  one  of  the  most  inter¬ 
esting  historical  sun-dials  in  England.  The  dial 
stands  on  a  tall  pillar  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  in  the 
village  of  Appleby,  and  is  one  of  two  erected  by  the 
famous  Anne  Clifford,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  Dor¬ 
set,  and  Montgomery,  who  lived  from  1590  to  1675. 
She  was  heiress  of  several  involved  estates  which 
she  triumphantly  bore  out  of  their  tangles  into  pros¬ 
perity,  fighting  throughout  the  courts  with  a  zest, 
and  ruling  these  estates  with  equal  vigor  and  great 
discretion.  Among  other  victories  she  claimed  and 
held  throughout  her  life  the  office  of  hereditary  high 
sheriff  of  Westmoreland,  in  spite  of  the  opposition 
of  King  James.  She  had  disputes  with  the  crown 
under  King  Charles,  and  defended  her  castles 
against  Cromwell.  She  repaired  her  crumbling 
castles,  restored  and  built  churches,  and  erected 
other  monuments  —  and  ‘‘never  tasted  wine  or 
physic”  —  a  fine  anti-climax.  Within  the  Appleby 
Church  is  her  monument,  showing  her  life-sized, 
sturdy  figure. 

On  this  dial  is  the  motto,  “  Retain  your  loyalty, 
preserve  your  rights,”  which,  in  the  light  thrown  by 
the  events  of  her  life,  showed  that  she  chose  a  motto 
which  was  to  her  of  deep  feeling.  It  is  also  sig¬ 
nificant  when  taken  in  connection  with  an  anecdote 
of  her  told  by  Horace  Walpole.  Its  authenticity 
has  been  questioned,  but  it  is  wonderfully  character¬ 
istic.  She  had  been  communicated  with  by  an 
officer  of  the  king,  and  told  to  support  a  certain 
candidate  for  high  office  in  her  borough.  Her 
answer  ran  thus : — 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial  289 

u  I  have  been  bullied  by  an  Usurper,  I  have  been 
neglected  by  a  Court,  but  I  won’t  be  dictated  to  by  a 
Subject.  Your  Man  sha’n’t  stand. 

“  Ann  Dorset  Pembroke  and  Montgomery.” 


On  page  287  is  shown  “The  Countess’s  Pillar,” 
—  a  pillar  set  up  also  by  her  on  the  wayside  between 
Brougham  and  Ap¬ 
pleby.  The  square 
block  which  sur¬ 
mounts  the  octagonal 
pillar  has  carvings  on 
four  sides ;  two  are 
sun-dials.  It  is  here 
given  in  enlarged  size 
to  show  the  detail. 

There  is  also  an  in¬ 
scription  which  ex¬ 
plains  the  name  given 
the  structure :  — 

“This  Pillar  was 
Erected  Anno  Domini 
1656  by  the  Right  Hon. 

Ann  Countess  Dowager 
of  Pembroke  and  Sole 
Heir  of  the  Right  Hon¬ 
orable  George  Earl  of 
Cumberland,  etc.,  for  a 
Memorial  of  Her  Last 

Parting  in  This  Place 
•it?  /"<  1  j  Dial-block  of  the  Countess  s  Pillar, 

with  Her  Good  and  Pious 

Mother  The  Right  Honorable  Margaret  Countess  Dowager 
of  Cumberland,  the  Second  of  April,  1616.  In  Memory 


u 


290  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Whereof  She  also  left  an  Annuity  of  Four  Pounds  to  be 
Distributed  to  the  Poor  within  the  Parish  of  Brougham 
Every  Second  Day  of  April  For  Ever  upon  this  Stone 
Table.  Laus  Deo.” 

A  custom  existed  in  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth, 
and  indeed  the  eighteenth  centuries,  of  accompany¬ 
ing  a  departing  guest  some  distance  on  his  way  — 
going  “  agatewards,”  it  was  called.  And  it  was 
deemed  a  great  indignity  if  no  one  rode  out  with 
the  traveller.  Sometimes  a  great  party  would  go 
on  horseback  several  miles  on  the  way.  Doubtless 
the  countess  parted  with  her  mother  by  the  way- 
side,  after  some  visit  which  one  had  made  to  the 
other. 

The  stone  table  for  the  alms  still  stands,  but  is 
concealed  in  the  picture  by  the  ugly  protecting  fence. 
The  present  rector  of  Appleby  Church  was  asked 
whether  the  alms  was  still  given,  and  answered,  “  I’d 
hear  from  it  if  it  wasn’t.” 

Another  tender  memorial  to  a  loved  mother  is  the 
sun-dial  on  page  291.  It  is  at  Neaum  Crag,  Am- 
bleside,  and  was  erected  by  Albert  Fleming,  Est]. 
The  motto  is  the  Latin  rendering  of  the  text,  Psalm 
cxxxix.  12,  “The  darkness  and  light  to  thee  are 
both  alike.”  On  the  base  of  the  pedestal  are  the 
noble  lines  of  Matthew  Arnold:  — 

“  O  strong  soul,  by  what  shore 

Tarriest  thou  now  ?  For  that  force. 

Surely,  has  not  been  left  vain  ! 

Somewhere,  surely,  afar. 

In  the  sounding  labour-house  vast 
Of  being,  is  practised  that  strength. 

Zealous,  beneficent,  firm.” 


Sun-dial  on  Library  Tower,  Princeton  University,  Princeton, 

New  Jersey. 


i 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial  291 

I  often  wonder  when  I  see  the  very  trying  results 
of  affectionate  desire  to  erect  a  memorial  to  oui- 
beloved  dead  that  one  dignified  form  is  wholly 
neglected,  especially  when  such  unhappy  examples 


Dial  with  Dipleidoscope,  Neaum  Crag,  Ambleside,  England. 

of  stained  glass  are  set  in  our  churches — I  mean  a 
memorial  window-dial  of  stained  glass.  Window- 
dials  are  described  in  Chapter  II.  A  suggestive 
and  beautiful  design  would  be  of  some  figure,  an 
angel  or  some  Biblical  character,  holding  a  pointer 


292  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

to  the  hours.  Dante  s  Amor ,  page  16,  the  angel  on 
the  Chartres  Cathedral,  page  18,  and  the  angel  with 
dial  upon  the  Genoa  Cathedral,  facing  page  14,  would 
all  be  exquisite  designs  for  window-dials.  Of  course 


Sun-dial  at  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 


such  a  dial  would  be  read  from  the  inside  of  the 
building,  and  thus  the  hours  would  be  numbered, 
as  on  a  clock,  from  right  to  left.  This  idea  need 
not  be  confined  to  memorial  church  windows  ; 
but  might  with  a  more  secular  design  be  a  great 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial 


293 


beauty  in  the  hall  of 
a  country  house  or  in 
some  public  building. 

This  dial,  to  be  seen 
in  perfection,  should  be 
set  in  a  wall  facing  due 
south,  though  other 
positions  will  answer. 

A  curious  and  inter¬ 
esting  memorial  may  be 
seen  erected  on  a  but¬ 
tress  of  Ascot  Church, 
to  two  members  of  the 
Guinness  family.  It 
consists  of  a  sun-dial 
and  a  lamp,  and  is  in¬ 
tended  to  indicate  the 
three  kinds  of  light, 
namely :  first,  the  natu¬ 
ral  light  on  the  dial  ;  second,  the  artificial  light  of 
the  lamp ;  third,  the  supernatural  light  indicated  in 
the  inscription,  which  is  — 


Sun-dial  in  Grounds  of  Packer 
Collegiate  Institute,  Brooklyn, 
New  York. 


THOU  ART  MY  LAMP,  O  LORD. 

THE  LORD  SHALL  LIGHTEN  MY  DARKNESS. 

The  dial  bears  the  motto  :  — 

I  ALSO  AM  UNDER  AUTHORITY. 

It  shows  the  frequent  irony  of  good  intent  that  a 
dial  with  the  same  motto  and  an  inscription  from 
Shakespeare,  which  was  erected  in  Pelton,  Somerset, 
to  the  memory  of  a  brave  soldier,  should  be  torn 


294  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


down  and  lost,  and  even  the  name  of  the  hero  for¬ 
gotten. 

A  sun-dial  has  ever  been  an  appropriate  memorial 
gift  to  a  college  as  well  as  a  useful  fitting  for  a  college 
wall.  Many  remember  a  sun-dial  on  one  of  the  build¬ 
ings  at  Harvard  U niversity ;  but  it  has  vanished  under 

“improving”  hands. 
And  there  was  a  splen¬ 
did  sun-dial  of  unusual 
size  and  beauty  at  Wil¬ 
liams.  Hawthorne 
writes  of  the  interest  he 
had  in  it  when  he  saw 
it  at  the  stone  cutter’s 
—  its  great  size  and  fine 
finish.  That,  too,  has 
disappeared  within  the 
memory  of  man.  A 
fine  modern  dial  is  upon 
the  Library  Tower  at 
Princeton  University. 
Tower  and  dial  are 
shown  facing  page  290. 
Another  dial  upon  a 
dormitory  at  Princeton 

affords  a  curious  min- 
Sun-dial  in  Grove  Street  Burying-  o-fing  of  antiquity  and 
ground,  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  j  •  i1  • 

modernity;  hair-tim¬ 
bered  walls  and  a  sun-dial  are  beside  electric  poles  and 
wires  and  an  American  clock.  A  modern  dial  on  the 
campus  of  Yale  University  is  given  on  page  292. 
It  is  of  excellent  design.  Another,  on  the  grounds  of 


The  Sun-dial  as  a  Memorial 


295 


the  Packer  Collegiate  Institute,  Brooklyn,  is  pictured 
on  page  293.  It  is  a  fit  and  beautiful  class  memorial. 
Sun-dials  are  appropriate  teachers  in  a  cemetery. 
One  in  a  New  Haven  cemetery  is  on  page  294. 

Over  the  entrance  to  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery  is 
a  vertical  sun-dial,  with  appropriate  and  beautiful 
lines  written  by  the  poet  John  G.  Whittier  for  his 
friend  Dr.  Henry  J.  Bowditch,  and  inscribed  first 
on  a  silver  dial.  Their  beauty  has  made  them 
popular,  and  they  have  been  frequently  copied. 
They  may  well  close  this  chapter  on  the  sun-dial  as 
a  memorial :  — 

WITH  WARNING  HAND  I  MARK.  TIME’S  RAPID  FLIGHT, 
FROM  LIFE’S  GLAD  MORNING  TO  ITS  SOLEMN  NIGHT. 

YET,  THROUGH  THE  DEAR  GOD’S  LOVE,  I  ALSO  SHOW 
there’s  LIGHT  ABOVE  ME  BY  THE  SHADE  BELOW. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


PLINY  SAIETH  :  CONCERNING  ROSES  AND  GARLANDS 

“  Farewell  !  dear  flowers,  sweetly  your  time  ye  spent. 

Fit  while  ye  lived  for  smell  or  ornament. 

And  after  death,  for  cures.” 

—  Religious  Poems.  George  Herbert. 


OW  frequently  in  reading  the 
pages  of  Parkinson  and 
Gerarde  do  we  feel  a  comic 
resignation  at  the  ever  recur¬ 
rent  words,  “  Pliny  saieth,” 
or  “  Let  Pliny  tell,”  “  Pliny 
teacheth,”  “  Pliny  reason- 
eth.”  We  weary  of  old 
Pliny’s  name ;  but  I  must 
add,  in  truth,  we  never  weary 
of  old  Pliny’s  words.  Let  us  read  those  words  con¬ 
cerning  Roses,  since  they  are  twenty  centuries  old,  and 
find  what  Roses  were  known  and  ioved  in  those  days 
of  which  we  are  ever  eager  to  learn  all  details  :  in  those 
most  wonderful  and  sacred  days  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament.  Let  us  turn  from  the  very  respectable  and 
easily  handled  edition  of  Pliny  in  the  Bohn  Library, 
and  take  down  this  vast  folio,  —  companion  in  size 
and  type  and  paper  and  binding  of  the  great  Herballs 
of  Parkinson  and  Gerarde  and  Cole,  —  cumbersome 

296 


Concerning  Roses  and  Garlands  297 

and  heavy  to  handle,  it  is  true ;  shedding,  too,  a 
leathery  brown  powder  from  its  ancient  calfskin  jerkin, 
yet  somehow,  a  book  beloved.  Here  is  the  fine  or¬ 
nate  title-page,  with  its  beautiful  Printer’s  Mark,  a 
delight  to  the  eye,  and  the  title,  The  Historic  of  the 
IV or  Id ,  imprinted  at  London  in  1634.  It  is  translated 


Roses  at  Mount  Vernon,  the  Home  of  George  Washington. 


by  Dr.  Philemon  Holland,  a  worthy  after  Fuller’s 
own  heart,  and  a  fit  companion  for  the  three  Herb- 
Johns,  who  were  his  contemporaries,  John  Parkinson, 
John  Gerarde,  and  John  Evelyn.  Fuller  says,  “  Our 
Holland  had  the  true  knack  of  translating.”  I  he 
book  is  too  big  to  hold,  but  we  can  prop  it  up  on  a 
reading  desk  and  open  at  the  twenty-first  book,  which 
relates  to  the  “  Nature  of  Flowers,  and  namely  those 


298  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


of  Chaplets  and  Guirlands.”  I  will  not  change  a 
letter  of  the  old  spelling,  nor  a  word  of  the  quaint 
phrasing,  since  I  chose  this  translation  of  Holland’s 
chiefly  to  have  the  wording  of  the  English  of 
Gerarde’s  day  :  — 

u  Cato  in  his  Treatise  of  Gardens  ordained  as  a  necessary 
point,  That  they  should  be  planted  and  inriched  with  such 
herbs  as  might  bring  forth  floures  for  Coronets  and  Gar¬ 
lands.  And,  in  very  truth,  their  diversity  is  such,  that 
impossible  it  is  to  decipher  and  expresse  them  accordingly. 
Whereby  wee  may  see,  that  more  easie  it  was  for  dame 
Nature  to  depaint  and  adorn  the  earth  with  sundrie  pictures 
to  beautifie  the  fields  (I  say)  with  all  many  of  colours,  by 
her  handyworke,  (especially  where  she  hath  met  with  a 
grounde  to  her  minde,  and  when  she  is  in  a  merrie  humour 
and  disposed  to  play  and  disport  herself)  than  for  any  man 
in  the  world  to  utter  the  same  by  word  of  mouth. 

u  To  come  again  to  the  varieties  of  flowers  ;  verily  there  is 
no  painter  with  all  his  skill,  able  sufficiently  with  his  pencil 
to  represent  one  lively  garland  of  flowers  ;  whether  they  be 
plaited  and  intermedled  in  maner  of  nosegaies  one  with 
another  ;  or  set  in  ranks  and  rowes  one  by  another  ;  whether 
they  be  knit  and  twisted  cord-wise  and  in  chain-work  of 
one  sort  of  flowers,  either  to  wind  and  wreath  about  a 
chaplet,  bias,  or  in  fashion  of  a  circle,  or  whether  they  be 
sorted  round  into  a  globe  or  ball,  running  one  through 
another,  to  exhibit  goodly  sight  and  entire  uniformity  of  a 
crosse  garland.” 

By  which  words  it  may  be  plainly  seen  that  though 
there  was  great  variety  and  much  quaintness  of 
arrangement,  yet  there  was  also  distinct  formality  ; 
that  set  forms  were  always  made,  and  that  each 
had  a  signification.  Pliny  gives  an  entire  chapter 


Concerning  Roses  and  Garlands  299 

to  garlands,  coronets,  chaplets,  and  nosegays ;  he 
tells  of  their  shapes,  and  why  they  were  called  co- 
rollae.  He  tells  that  the  early  Greeks  crowned  only 
with  leaves  and  branches  of  trees,  taking  no  pleasure 
in  “  plaiting  and  broiding  of  herbes  ”  ;  they  enriched, 
however,  their  triumphal  crowns  with  flowers,  chiefly 


Arch  with  the  Memorial  Rose,  Twin  Oaks,  near  Washington,  D.C. 

Roses;  and  at  last  Pausias,  the  cunning  painter,  and 
Glycera,  the  chaplet-maker,  started  some  new  modes 
for  Greek  dames  of  distinction  and  fashion,  through 
as  pretty  and  vivacious  a  courtship  as  ancient  history 
can  show. 

“  This  Painter  was  wonderfully  enamoured  of  said 
Glycera  and  courted  her  by  all  means  he  could  devise.  He 

J  J 


3oo  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

would  seem  to  counterfeit  and  represent  lively  with  his 
pencil  in  colours  what  floures  whatsoever  she  wrought  and 
set  with  her  fingers  into  garlands  ;  and  she  again  strived 
avie  to  change  and  alter  her  handiwork  every  day  for  to 
drive  him  to  a  non-plus  at  the  length,  or  at  leastwise  to 
put  him  to  his  shifts;  insomuch,  as  it  was  a  very  pleas¬ 
ant  and  worthie  sight  to  behold  of  one  side  the  works 
of  Nature  in  the  woman’s  hand;  and  on  the  other  side 
the  arti ficiall  cunning  of  the  painter.  And  verily  there 
are  at  this  day  to  be  seen  divers  painted  tables  of  his 
workmanship  and  namely  one  picture  above  the  rest  en¬ 
titled  Stephanopolocos  wherein  he  painted  his  sweetheart 
twisting  and  braiding  coronets  and  chaplets  as  her  manner 
was.” 

After  an  account  of  the  fashioning  of  these  flower- 
garlands,  Winter  Coronets  are  described  gravely : 
these  were  made  of  horn  shavings  dyed  in  different 
colors,  “  pretty  and  small,”  a  grievous  anti-climax; 
then  came  coronets  of  leaves  of  latten  (a  sort  of 
brass)  and  chaplets  of  gold  and  silver  spangles; 
then  ribbons  followed.  All  these  garlands  were 
hedged  about  with  much  formality ;  they  could  not 
be  commonly  worn.  One  man  carelessly  thrust  his 
head  out  of  a  gallery  window  when  he  happened  to 
be  wearing  a  garland  of  Roses,  and  he  was  promptly 
carried  off  to  prison. 

Idle  grouping  of  various  flowers  in  a  garland  had 
much  signification.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  wrote 
in  a  charmingly  rural  measure  in  Pbilaster  of  the 
shepherd,  “  the  trustiest,  lovingest,  gentlest  boy”:  — 

“  A  garland  lay  by  him,  made  by  himself 
Of  many  several  flowers  bred  in  the  bay  ; 


Concerning  Roses  and  Garlands  30 t 

Stuck  in  that  mystic  order,  that  the  rareness 
Delighted  me. 

Then  he  took  up  his  garland,  and  did  show 
What  every  flower,  as  country  people  hold 
Did  signify  ;  and  how  all,  ordered  thus, 

Express’d  his  grief :  And,  to  my  thoughts,  did  read 
The  prettiest  lecture  of  his  country  art 
That  could  be  wished.” 

During  Rome’s  magnificence  garlands  grew  in 
cost  and  elegance;  choicely  aromatic  leaves  were 
brought  from  other  lands  at  great  expense ;  chap¬ 
lets  were  wrought  with  needlework  and  made  of 
silk.  There  was  a  formal  chaplet  of  grass,  a  decora¬ 
tion  of  honor  given  by  consent  of  the  whole  people 
to  some  hero;  it  was  sometimes  placed  on  a  private 
soldier  with  the  acclaim  of  the  entire  army  over  his 
deeds  of  bravery. 

Some  years,  Thoreau  thought,  are  more  directed 
to  the  extended  observation  of  nature  than  are 
others ;  at  times  nature-love  seemed  to  him  epi¬ 
demic,  as  if  all  were  conscious  of  the  fulness  and 
beauty  of  life.  Certainly  this  past  year  is  what  he 
called  a  “  year  of  observation  of  gardens.”  We  can¬ 
not  tell  how  far  may  extend  this  lively  interest  in 
gardens,  and,  in  sequence,  in  flowers.  We  may 
revive  the  ceremonial  use  of  flowers  which  Pliny 
recorded.  The  Kloralia  and  Fortinalia  of  those 
days  had  triumphal  processions  and  floral  decora¬ 
tions  far  beyond  anything  seen  by  our  eyes.  We 
may  take  lessons  and  learn  to  twine  garlands; 
bolder  still,  we  may  learn  to  wear  them. 

After  Pliny  has  declared  that  in  his  day  Roses 
and  Violets  were  the  only  garland  flowers  known, 


302  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

he  describes  the  Rose  of  his  time,  its  manner  of 
growth,  and  its  uses  :  — 

u  Roses  enter  into  the  composition  of  sweet  ointments  and 
perfumes.  Over  and  besides,  the  Rose  of  itself  alone  as  it 
is  hath  medicinal  virtues,  and  serveth  to  many  purposes  in 
physick.  It  goeth  into  emplastres  and  collyries  or  eye- 
salves,  by  reason  of  a  certain  subtle  mordacitie  and  penetra¬ 
tive  quality  it  hath.  Furthermore,  many  delicate  and  dainty 
dishes  are  served  up  at  table,  either  covered  and  bestrewed 
with  Rose  leaves,  or  bedewed  and  smeared  all  over  with 
their  juice  which  gives  no  harm  to  those  viands,  but  give 
a  commendable  taste  thereto.” 

Pliny  tells  of  few  Roses,  but  twelve  in  all ;  and 
gives  sadly  scant  information  of  each.  Johnson, 
the  editor  of  Gerarde ,  said  of  Pliny,  his  book, 
“  Sometimes  he  is  pretty  large,  otherwhiles  so  breefe 
that  scarce  anything  can  there  be  gathered.”  Brief 
he  is  of  Roses.  He  tells  of  the  Rose  of  Prasneste, 
“  the  latest  Rose,”  believed  to  be  our  Provence 
Rose  ;  one  of  Miletus,  of  a  deep  and  lively  red  ; 
another  late  Rose,  with  never  more  than  twelve 
petals,  thought  to  be  the  Rosa  Gallica  of  Linnaeus ; 
one  of  Alabanda,  “  of  a  baser  reckoning,  with  a 
weak  color  turning  to  white,”  this  perhaps  an  Eglan¬ 
tine,  since  it  is  the  “  Rose  growing  in  a  bramble.” 
Another  was  the  Rosa  Centifolia ,  upon  which  lovely 
Rose  he  was  surprisingly  severe,  saying  it  graced  not 
garlands,  save  for  the  extreme  ends.  Another,  the 
Gr<ecula,  a  large-petalled  white  Rose,  which  never 
opened  save  when  pressed  open,  has  been  held  to 
be  the  Rosa  sihestris.  He  speaks  of  the  Damask 


Concerning  Roses  and  Garlands  303 

Rose.  He  gives  this  curious  statement,  that  sweet- 
scented  Roses  ever  have  the  “  cup  or  knob  under 
the  floure  ”  (the  calyx),  “  rough  and  prickly.”  He 
fancied,  too,  that  Roses  were  changed  by  soil  and  cli¬ 
mate,  having  more  profuse  scent  in  dry  soils.  This 
is  said  to  be  corroborated  by  modern  observation  ; 
but  I  have  found  all  Eglantines  stronger  scented  in 
moist  soils  and  places  ;  perhaps  the  scent  of  the  blos¬ 
som  itself  may  not  be  so,  but  that  of  the  leaf  cer¬ 
tainly  is.  He  advises  cutting,  pruning,  and  burning 
Roses  ;  and  he  gives  a  rule  to  those  who  “  desire 
Roses  to  blow  early,”  to  dig  a  trench  around  the 
bush  and  pour  in  hot  water  “when  the  bud  begin- 
neth  to  be  knotted.” 

One  point  in  the  culture  of  Roses,  which  was  in¬ 
sisted  upon  by  Pliny,  is  just  as  important  to-day  ; 
namely,  to  dig  deep  in  their  cultivation,  to  move 
the  soil  at  least  to  the  depth  of  two  feet;  and  Hor¬ 
ace  speaks  of  their  growing  in  beds  by  themselves 
—  a  point  also  clung  to  by  modern  Rose-growers, 
though  not  by  those  who  love  the  whole  garden 
more  than  any  single  flower. 

Pliny  asserted  that  he  had  scant  opinion  of  try¬ 
ing  to  concoct  certain  dishes  because  they  had  an 
influence  on  the  health  :  he  cared  not  “  to  mingle 
Agriculture,  Cookery,  and  Physicke,  and  thus  make 
a  mish-mash  and  confusion  of  all  things.”  But  he 
gave  thirty-two  “searching”  remedies  to  be  made 
from  Roses.  The  use  of  Roses  in  medicine  is 
decidedly  unromantic  and  disillusioning.  Ashes 
of  Roses  “  serve  to  trim  the  haires  ot  the  eye¬ 
brows.” 


304  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


“  Drie  Rose  Leaves  are  of  good  use  in  physick  ;  yea  the 
drie  Rose  cake  after  the  juice  and  moisture  is  pressed  out 
of  the  leaves.  Of  them  be  made  bags  and  quilts,  yea  and 
drie  powders.  Wild  Rose  leaves  reduced  into  a  liniment 
with  bear’s  grease  doth  wonderfully  make  hair  grow  again.” 

Wine  Rosat  was  thus  made,  “  so  saieth  Pliny”:  — 

“  A  weight  of  40  denirs  (five  ounces)  of  Rose  leaves 
well  stamped,  put  them  into  a  linen  cloth  together  with  a 
little  weight  that  they  may  settle  downwards  and  not  float 
about.  Let  them  hang  thus  in  20  sextars  (three  gallons) 
and  2  Wine  Ouarts  of  Must.  Keep  the  vessel  close 
stopted  for  3  Months,  then  open  it  and  strain  the  said 
floures  into  the  Liquor.” 

It  was  a  belief  of  Pliny’s  era,  and  indeed  until 
the  perfected  evolution  of  the  botanical  system  under 
Linnteus,  that  a  plant  with  no  medical  virtue  was 
scarcely  worth  growing.  Botany  was  for  a  time 
forced  wholly  into  the  service  of  medicine.  So 
what  Pliny  saieth  of  Roses  was  simply  echoed  by 
Parson  Herbert  centuries  later  :  — 

“A  Rose  besides  its  beauty  is  a  cure.” 

“  What  is  fairer  than  a  Rose, 

What  is  sweeter,  but  it  purgeth.” 

To  both  Pliny  and  Herbert’s  prosaic  and  utilitarian 
notions  let  me  reply  in  the  latter’s  own  words  :  — 

“  But  I  Health,  not  Physic,  choose 
Only  though  I  you  oppose. 

Say  that  fairly  I  refuse. 

For  my  Answer  —  is  a  Rose.” 


CHAPTER  XIV 


ROSA  SOLIS,  ROSE  PLATE,  AND  ROSEE 

“  To  entreate  of  them  all  exactly  I  doe  not  entend,  for  soe  a  pretty 
volume  of  itselfe  might  be  composed.  I  will  therefore  give  you 
onely  a  hint  of  every  one  of  them  and  referre  the  more  ample  dec¬ 
laration  of  them  to  those  that  would  entreate  onely  of  them.” 

—  Theatricum  Botanic um.  John  Parkinson. 

“  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  make  my  book  a  Confectionarie,  a  Sugar 
Baker’s  Furnace,  a  Gentlewoman’s  Preserving  Pan,  nor  yet  an 
Apothecaries  Shop  or  Dispensatorie.” 

—  Great  Herbal!.  John  Gerarde,  1556. 

UAINT  old  Rose  recipes  for 
conserves  and  preserves  and 
their  cousinry  may  be  given  in 
this  book  of  Roses  without 
making  it  a  “  confectionarie,” 
for  they  are  found  in  such  num¬ 
bers  in  so  many  books  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen¬ 
turies  —  books  that  are  far 
from  being  cook-books.  One 
of  my  ancient  volumes  was  published  in  the  year  1653, 
by  a  noble  knight,  Sir  Hugh  Plat,  and  in  the  figurative 
language  of  the  day  it  is  entitled,  A  Jewell  House  of 
Art  and  Nature.  1 1  was  a  book  of  a  class  very  popu¬ 
lar  in  England  at  that  day  and  for  a  century  to  follow. 

3°5 


x 


306  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


In  them  each  author  “  faithfully  set  down  according 
to  his  own  experience”  all  kinds  of  rare  and  profit¬ 
able  experiments  and  inventions  in  domestic  and 
public  life  and  “  Chimical  conclusions,  rare  practices, 
choice  secrets  made  known,”  —  in  short,  as  said  Sir 
Hugh,  he  “anatomized  Art  and  Nature.”  In  all 
of  these  books  are  found  ever  many  recipes  for  dis¬ 
tillations,  compoundings,  preservings,  etc.,  of  fruits 
and  flowers  ;  for  such  doings  were  deemed  evidences 
of  culture  and  refinement.  Great  men  and  great 
women  aided  in  compilation.  This  Jewell  House 
abounds  in  such  gastronomical  rules  ;  the  author 
waxed  somewhat  jocose  over  his  turning  kitchen- 
colonel  ;  he  writes  thus  anent  the  preservation  in 
fresh  trim  of  flowers  and  fruits  :  — 

u  Now  methinks  I  see  a  whole  troop  of  gallant  dames 
attending  with  listening  ears  or  longing  to  learn  some  new¬ 
found  skill,  as  how  they  may  play  at  Chop-Cherry  when 
cherry-time  is  past.  Wei,  to  give  these  Ladies  some  con¬ 
tent  I  wil  unfould  a  scroul  which  I  had  long  since  as  care¬ 
fully  wrapped  up  as  ever  any  of  the  Sybels  did  their  fatal 
phrophiesies,  wherein  I  will  make  them  as  cunning  as  my- 
selfe  (having  onely  that  I  will  reserve  one  strange  venue  to 
foil  a  scholler  withal  if  need  be).  The  secret  is  short. 
Let  one  element  be  included  in  another  so  the  one  may 
have  no  access  nor  participate  with  the  other.  But  this 
peradventure  is  too  Phylosophical  for  Women.  Then  re¬ 
ceive  it  Ladies  with  plain  terms  into  your  open  Laps. 

w  For  want  of  glasses  with  broad  skirts  (whereof  notwith¬ 
standing  I  do  think  there  are  enough  to  be  had  if  you  can 
be  gracious  with  the  Master  of  the  Glass-house)  cause  new 
Pewter  vessels  of  large  reception  to  be  made  of  the  fashion 
of  bell  Saltcellars  with  divers  eyes  or  hooks  hanging  in  the 


Hybrid  Sweet  Briers. 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  307 

midst  at  the  which  you  must  fasten  the  Cherries  (or  Roses) 
by  the  stalks  and  hang  them  in  it  so  that  one  may  not 
touch  the  other.” 

Let  me  conclude  his  rules.  This  glass  thus  hung 
with  Roses  was  to  be  set  mouth  downward  into  an¬ 
other  vessel  of  water,  thus  “  one  element  was  in¬ 
cluded  in  another”;  and  all  this  trouble  was  simply 
to  preserve  flowers  in  freshness  of  hue,  as  a  rare 
conceit  for  the  winter  season.  The  knight  gave 
another  recipe  to  preserve  dried  Roses.  I  give  it  at 
length  to  show  the  minuteness  of  description,  the 
painful  ways  of  our  ancestors,  as  well  as  their  love 
of  Roses  :  — 

u  If  you  would  perform  the  same  in  Rose-leaves  you  must, 
in  Rose-time,  make  choice  of  such  Roses  as  are  neither  in 
bud  nor  full-blown  (for  these  have  the  smoothest  leaves  of 
all  other)  which  you  must  especially  cull  and  chuse  from 
the  rest.  Then  take  of  right  Callis  sand,  and  wash  the 
same  in  some  change  of  waters,  and  dry  it  thoroughly  well 
either  in  an  oven  or  in  the  sun,  and  having  shallow  square 
or  long  boxes  of  five  or  six  inches  deep  make  first  an  even 
lay  of  sand  in  the  bottome,  upon  the  which  lay  your  Rose- 
leaves,  one  by  one,  (so  as  no  one  of  them  touch  another) 
till  you  have  covered  all  the  sand  :  then  with  a  spoon  or 
with  your  hand,  strew  sand  upon  these  leaves  until  you 
have  thinly  covered  them  all,  and  then  make  another  lay  of 
Rose-leaves  upon  the  sand,  and  so  make  stratum  super  stra¬ 
tum  (or  four  or  five  lays)  one  upon  another.  Set  this  box 
abroad  in  some  warm  place  in  a  hot  sunny  day,  and  com¬ 
monly  in  two  hot  days  they  will  be  thoroughly  dry  :  then 
with  your  hand,  or  a  spoon  you  must  strive  gently  to  get 
underneath  them  and  so  to  lift  them  up  without  breaking. 
Keep  these  leaves  in  jar  glasses  bound  about  with  paper  or 


308  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

parchment,  in  some  cupboard  that  is  near  a  chimney,  or 
stove,  least  otherwise  by  the  damp  of  the  air  they  relent 
again,  and  so  you  lose  your  labour.  I  find  the  red  Rose-leaf 
best  for  this  purpose,  by  reason  of  his  deep  colour. 

“  And  so  you  may  have  Rose-leaves  and  other  flowers  to 
lay  about  your  basins,  windows  and  court-cupboards  all  the 
winter  long.  Also  this  skill  is  very  requisite  for  a  good 
simplifier,  because  he  may  dry  the  leaf  of  any  herb  in  this 
manner  and  lay  it,  being  dry,  in  his  herball,  with  the  simple 
which  it  representeth,  whereby  he  may  easily  learn  to  know 
the  names  of  all  simples  he  desireth.  The  ordinary  drying 
of  Rose-leaves  is  to  lay  them  upon  hot  leads  on  a  hot 
sunny  day  and  the  sooner  you  dispatch,  the  better  they 
will  keep  their  Colour  and  scent.  And  when  you  have 
dried  them  thoroughly  you  may  fill  a  Rose-water  glasse 
therewith,  stopping  it  close  and  so  they  will  last  good  a 
long  time.” 

I  love  to  read  these  old  Rose  rules,  to  note  their 
curious  words  and  details,  —  that  Rose  vinegar  can 
be  made  a  perfect  ruby  color  by  “  making  choice 
of  the  crimson  velvet  coloured  leaves,  clipping  away 
the  whites  with  a  pair  of  sheers”  —  these  were 
ot  the  Velvet  Rose;  that  “in  the  pulling  of  your 
Roses  divide  all  the  blasted  leaves  and  take  the 
other  fresh  leaves  and  lay  abroad  in  your  windows 
with  clean  linen  under  them.”  Even  the  humblest 
advice  comes  not  amiss,  such  as  “  to  distill  Rose 
water  good-cheap  you  must  buy  store  of  Roses  when 
you  find  a  glut  of  them  in  the  market,  whereby  they 
are  sold  for  sevenpence  or  eightpence  a  bushel.” 
Good-cheap  indeed  was  such  delectable  store  at  such 
a  price.  It  assents  well  with  my  spirit  to  read  of 
“  kindly  ways  ”  of  treating  the  Rose-leaves  ;  while 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee 


3°9 


another  curious  term  is  a  “  conceited  ”  mode  of  pre¬ 
paring  Rose-leaves,  wherein  the  word  conceit  is  em¬ 
ployed  in  its  old  Shakespearian  meaning  of  a  dainty 
and  fanciful  device,  especially  in  cooking.  It  gives 


Roses  in  California. 


me  a  good  notion  of  the  housewife’s  ample  stores  to 
read  in  these  rules  of  one  recipe  for  ‘‘40  bushels  of 
damask  Roses,”  as  well  to  count  over  the  many 
glass,  earthen,  and  pewter  vessels  named  to  make 
and  to  contain  these  Rose  treasures.  Rules,  too, 
there  are  for  wonderful  waxflowers  made  by  coating 
the  real  Roses  with  a  preparation  of  melted  wax,  — 


310  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

an  almost  endless  toil ;  also  for  casting  flowers  in 
glue;  another  still  with  “  potter’s  earth,”  —  a  step 
toward  porcelain.  More  curious  still  were  the 
flowers  moulded  in  manchet  or  bread  crumbs  and 
fixed  with  some  preparation.  A  certain  noble  lord 
of  our  own  day  has  been  wont  to  thus  divert  a  din¬ 
ner  party,  and  cleverly,  too.  Hugh  Plat  does  not 
refer  to  potpourri  or  any  such  preparation  of  Rose- 
leaves. 

“Conserve  of  red  Roses  the  Italian  manner” 
was  defined  as  a  rich  paste  made  by  putting  the 
Roses  and  sugar  in  a  “close  stopped  glass.”  Sugar 
of  Roses  was  made  of  the  deepest  red  Roses  “  with 
the  buttons  cut  off,”  dried  in  an  oven  and  “  searsed  ” 
(which  were  sifted) ;  these  were  then  mixed  with 
sugar  and  rolled  into  sticks.  There  was  a  pleasant 
Marise ,  of  Rose-leaves,  and  pomanders  made  of 
Rose-leaves  and  “  Maste  of  a  sweet-apple-tree.” 
These  pomanders  were  carried  in  the  hand  or  worn 
in  a  pierced  ball  of  silver  or  gold. 

“  The  bob  of  gold 
Which  a  pomander  ball  doth  hold 
This  to  her  side  she  doth  attach 
With  gold  Crochet  or  French  Pennache.” 


King  Edward  gave  a  recipe  for  a  very  good  per¬ 
fume  to  burn  on  coals  to  make  the  house  “  as 
though  full  of  Roses.”  All  these  prove  why  Rose- 
leaves  were  purchased  in  families  by  the  bushel. 
They  were  also  strewn  on  the  floors  of  rooms.  A 
distinct  item  in  many  ancient  domestic  accounts 
was  for  “  strewing  Roses  and  strewing  Herbs,”  and 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  31 1 

the  floors  needed  them  in  the  abodes  of  our  none-too- 
tidy  forebears. 

Rose-leaves  were  used,  too,  in  large  quantities, 
in  manufacturing  domestic  remedies  and  medicines. 
There  were  Tincture  of  Roses,  Syrup  of  Roses, 
Electuary  of  Roses,  Honey  of  Roses,  Rose-troches, 
and  Rose-lohochs  (which  was  a  sort  of  Rose  paste  to 
be  licked  up  by  the  tongue).  There  was  a  special  cor¬ 
dial  made  of  new  Sweetbrier  Roses.  And  Dogroses 
were  made  into  a  pulp  and  then  into  a  sweet  conserve 
which  was  called  by  the  ponderous  name,  “  Cynor- 
rhodon.” 

Every  household  of  any  dignity  had  a  Rose-still, 
and  made  Rose-water  in  what  would  seem  to  us  lav¬ 
ish  abundance,  and  almost  extravagance.  This  Rose¬ 
water  entered  into  scores  of  medical  recipes,  and 
was  used  to  flavor  all  kinds  of  food,  even  meats  and 
fish.  A  Rose-still  was  a  costly  cooking-utensil,  but 
one  would  last  for  generations. 

I  have  another  interesting  old  book,  The  Queen's 
Closet  Opened,  published  in  1656,  a  book  of  recipes 
compiled  for  Queen  Henrietta  Maria.  I  purchased 
it  at  a  book-stall  in  New  York  for  the  sum  of  ten 
cents,  and  I  have  had  amusement  from  it  to  at  least 
that  amount,  I  think.  Among  the  prescriptions  in 
the  book  are  some  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Ken- 
elm  Digby  (the  viper-husband),  the  king,  the  queen, 
and  many  physicians  and  chirurgeons.  1  he  part 
entitled  A  Queen  s  Delight  has  many  “  secrets  ” 
for  preserving,  conserving,  and  candying  ;  among 
the  materials  in  high  favor  were  Rose-leaves.  All 
the  distillations  were  done  in  a  Rose-still.  I  will 


312  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

not  copy  the  recipes  for  potpourri  since  they  are  so 
well  known,  but  here  are  some  recipes  which  are 
not  so  familiar  to  us  :  — 

“To  make  Conserve  of  Roses  boyld.  Take  a  quart  of 
Red  Rose  Water,  a  quart  of  fair  water,  boyl  in  the  water 
a  pound  of  red  Rose  leaves,  the  whites  cut  off.  The 
leaves  must  be  boyld  very  tender,  then  take  three  pound 
of  Sugar,  and  put  to  it,  a  pound  at  a  time,  and  let  it  boyl  a 
little  between  every  pound,  and  so  put  it  up  in  your  pots.” 

“  To  make  Lozenges  of  Red  Roses.  Boyl  your  Sugar  to 
sugar  again,  then  put  in  your  red  Roses,  being  finely  beaten 
and  mayd  moist  with  the  juice  of  a  Lemon.  Let  it  not 
boyl  after  the  Roses  are  in,  but  pour  it  upon  a  Pye  plate 
and  cut  it  into  what  form  you  please.” 

The  Form  of  Cury  was  a  roll  of  English  cookery 
compiled  about  the  year  1390  by  the  master-cooks 
of  King  Richard  II.  He  had  in  all  two  thousand 
cooks.  It  was  a  vellum  roll  containing  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  recipes,  and  was  presented  to  Queen 
Elizabeth  as  a  great  curiosity.  A  few  other  con¬ 
temporary  collections  of  cooking  recipes  exist,  and 
these  were  all  privately  printed  in  1791  in  a  large 
book  which  is  now  very  rare. 

A  vast  discretion  had  to  be  employed  by  one  who 
followed  these  recipes.  The  amounts  were  seldom 
given,  even  of  powerful  flavorings  and  ingredients  ; 
“  according  to  taste  ”  was  the  universal  rule. 

The  extreme  of  vagueness  of  time-durations  in 
cooking  from  those  old  recipes  was  reached  in  one 
given  by  one  ancient  Henslow,  “  Let  it  seethe  the 
spaces  of  a  mile  or  more,”  that  is,  while  you  could 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  313 

walk  a  mile,  which  meant  about  twenty  minutes. 
“  Seethe  it  a  walm  or  two  ”  was  also  far  from  definite. 

Roses,  and  especially  Rose-hips,  were  of  much 
value  to  those  two  thousand  royal  cooks.  Here 
are  two  of  the  Rose  recipes  from  the  Form  of  Cury. 

u  Rosee  (  from  white  Roses). 

u  Take  thyk  Rose  mylk  as  to  fore  welled  [before  willed]. 
Cast  thereto  sugar,  a  goode  porcion  pynes  [mulberries]. 
Dates,  ymynced  canell  [cinnamon]  and  powder  gynger,  and 
seethe  [boil]  it  and  messe  it  forth.  If  thou  wilt,  in  stede 
of  almand  mylke  take  swete  cremes  of  kyne.” 

u  Sawce  Sarzyne  ( Saracen  sauce). 

“  Take  heppes  [hips]  and  make  hem  clene.  Takealmands 
blanched.  Frye  hem  in  oil  and  bray  hem  in  a  mortar,  with 
heppes.  Draw  it  up  with  red  wyne,  and  do  therein  sugar 
ynowhg  [enough]  with  powdor-fort  [powder  of  hot  spices 
as  pepper,  ginger,  etc.].  Let  it  be  stondyng  [stiff]  and  alay 
[mix]  it  with  floer  of  rys,  and  color  it  with  alkanet,  and 
messe  it  forth;  and  flourish  with  pomegarnet  [pomegranate]. 
If  thou  wilt  in  flesch  day  seeth  capons,  and  take  the  brawn, 
and  tese  him  smal,  and  do  thereto,  and  make  a  lico  [liquor] 
of  this  broth.” 

We  learn  many  things  besides  recipes  from  these 
old  books,  among  them  most  ingenious  modes  of 
misspelling.  But  I  really  believe  that  ynowhg  for 
enough  is  the  veriest  height  of  cacography. 

When  I  was  a  child  we  always  nibbled  the  hips 
of  Wild  Roses  and  of  Eglantine,  but  had  a  firm 
notion  that  other  Rose-hips  were  poisonous.  We 
called  the  young  shoots  of  the  Wild  Rose  “  Briar- 


314  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Rose  Arches  at  Twin  Oaks,  near  Washington,  D.C. 

candy.”  I  find  they  were  really  candied  by  house¬ 
wives  two  hundred  years  ago. 

Rose-hips  have  been  entirely  neglected  for  many 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  315 

years  as  a  product  for  conserves,  sweetmeats,  etc. 

I  know  but  one  person  who  gathers  them  for  that 
purpose,  and  that  is  the  Irish  wife  of  a  German 
farmer  in  Old  Narragansett.  She  cooks  both  Rose¬ 
hips  and  Mushrooms,  to  the  distinctly  expressed 
scorn  of  many  of  her  American  neighbors.  From 
her  husband  she  learned  to  make  the  German  com¬ 
pote  called  Hagenmark.  This  seems  to  preserve 
the  very  being  of  the  Wild  Rose  in  its  lovely  glow¬ 
ing  color.  When  sold  in  great  pails  in  chill 
November  in  the  German  market-places,  the  vivid 
red  tempers  the  frosty  air. 

Siebold  says  that  the  Rosa  rugosa  has  been  culti¬ 
vated  in  China  for  over  a  thousand  years,  and  that 
the  ladies  of  the  Chinese  court  have  ever  made  a 
delightful  potpourri  by  mixing  hips  and  leaves  with 
musk  and  camphor. 

H  ere  is  a  recipe  for  a  tart,  from  a  seventeenth 
century  cook-book,  entitled  The  Accomplisht  Cook. 

u  To  make  a  Tart  of  Hips. 

“  Take  Hips,  cut  them  and  take  out  the  seeds  very  clean, 
then  wash  them,  season  with  sugar,  cinnamon  and  ginger. 
Close  the  tart,  bake  it,  ice  it,  sprinkle  sugar,  and  serve  it  in.” 

Pastes  of  various  flowers  were  made  boiled  down  • 
with  Rose-water.  Jemelloes  were  made  of  sugar, 
caraways,  and  Rose-water ;  these  were  excellent  tor 
“  banqueting.”  “  Sugar  plate  ”  was  similar,  save 
that  “  gum-dragon  ”  was  added.  Rose  plate  was 
nearly  the  same  thing.  Muskechives  or  Kissing 
Comfits  were  made  of  sugar,  “  gum-dragon,  musk, 


3 1 6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

civet,  orris  powder  and  Rose-water,”  and  were  “  cut 
into  lozenges  with  your  iging-iron.”  Macaroons 
were  of  almond  flour  flavored  with  Rose-water. 
Italian  chips  were  made  of  flowers  of  various  colors, 
chiefly  Roses.  Gingerbread  was  flavored  with  Rose¬ 
water  and  gilded,  and  was  deemed  a  great  elegance. 

A  curious  sort  of  potted  Roses  was  made  by  the 
cook  of  the  king  of  Sicily,  and  is  thus  described  :  — 

u  This  is  what  I  call  Potted  Roses,  and  it  is  thus  pre¬ 
pared  :  I  first  pound  some  of  the  most  fragrant  Roses  in  a 
mortar ;  then  I  take  the  brains  of  birds  and  pigs  well  boiled, 
and  stripped  of  every  particle  of  meat.  I  then  add  the 
yolks  of  some  eggs,  some  oil,  a  little  cordial,  some  pepper 
and  some  wine :  after  having  beaten  and  mixed  it  well 
together  I  throw  it  in  a  new  pot  and  place  it  over  a  slow 
but  steady  fire.” 

The  chronicler  adds  that  when  the  pot  was  un¬ 
covered  the  most  delicious  fragrance  issued  forth, 
overcoming  the  guests  with  delight. 

We  have  seen  that  Wine  Rosat  was  known  in 
ancient  Rome,  and  there  was  a  smooth  and  oily  but 
potent  drink  of  Elizabethan  days  known  by  the 
pretty  name  of  Rosa  Solis,  strong  with  aqua  vit<e 
and  pungent  with  Orange  flower  water  and  cinnamon 
extract:  “old  Red  Rose  water  ”  in  plentiful  quan¬ 
tity  gave  it  its  name. 

“We  abandon  all  ale. 

And  beer  that  is  stale 
*  Rosa  solis  and  damnable  hum.” 

It  was  beloved  of  roysterers,  scourers,  and  Mo¬ 
hocks,  such  rakehelly  fellows  as  Captain  Ferrers, 


Queen  of  the  Prairie  Rose 


Rosa  Solis,  Rose  Plate,  and  Rosee  317 

who,  crazed  with  this  liquor,  leaped  dare-devil  from  a 
high  second-story  balcony,  “  the  desperatest  frolic 
I  did  ever  see,”  wrote  Pepys.  I  should  have  loved  to 
see  a  braggart  gallant  of  Elizabeth’s  day,  swaggering 
in  bombasted  breeches,  great  green  shoe-roses,  gauze 
sash  and  shoulder  knot,  and  hat  with  pearl  band  and 
feathers,  —  such  a  fearful  guy  as  is  our  poor  noble  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  in  his  portrait,  —  bawling  in  through 
a  red-lattice  for  a  black-jack,  and  drinking  off  in  a 
single  vast  quaff  a  draught  of  damnable  hum  or 
“  right  rosa  solis,  as  ever  washed  molligrubs  out  of 
a  moody  brain,”  which  was  its  special  function  — 
the  cinnamon  being  deemed  in  great  degree  chasing 
off  the  megrims. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  EMBLEM  OF  THE  ROSE  IN  ENGLISH  HISTORY 


“  Round  every  flower  there  gleams  a  glory. 

Bequeathed  by  antique  song  or  story  ; 

To  each  old  legends  give  a  name 
And  its  peculiar  charm  proclaim.” 

“  The  Rose  doth  deserve  the  chiefest  and  most  principall  place 
among  all  floures  whatsoever  ;  being  not  only  esteemed  for  his 
beautie,  vertues,  and  his  fragrant  smell,  but  also  because  it  is  the 
honour  and  ornament  of  our  English  Sceptre.” 

—  Greale  Her  ball,  I $6o.  John  Gerarde. 

N  that  English  classic,  Alice 
in  W onderland ,  Alice  and 
her  friends,  the  Mouse,  the 
White  Rabbit,  the  Dodo, 
and  the  Lory,  all  fall  into 
the  water.  They  emerge 
with  difficulty,  grievously 
bedraggled,  and  stand  sadly 
desponding  as  to  the  means 
of  drying  themselves.  The  Mouse  bethinks  him¬ 
self  briskly:  “I’ll  soon  make  you  dry  enough; 
I’ll  read  you  a  page  of  English  history;  ’tis  the 
driest  thing  that  I  know,”  and  he  proceeds  :  — 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  319 

u  The  English,  who  wanted  leaders,  had  been  much 
accustomed  to  usurpation  and  conquest.  Edwin  and 
Morca,  Earls  of  Mercia  and  Northumbria,  declared  for 
him;  and  even  Stigand  found  it  advisable  —  ” 

This  regard  of  English  history  is  common  to 
most  of  us,  but  there  is  a  long  page  of  English 


Gold  of  Ophir  Roses. 


history  which  is  neither  dry  nor  tedious,  but  is 
glowing  with  the  richest  color  of  romance ;  it  might 
be  summarized  as  the  Rose  in  English  History. 
I  can  but  refer  to  it  in  a  brief  regard  of  the  Rose 
as  an  Emblem.  The  “  painfull”  searcher  after  facts 
in  regal  heraldry  finds  an  indelible  record  ol  the 
Rose  in  the  many  badges  and  devices,  especially 


3^o  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

those  of  the  royal  family,  which  bear  a  figure  of  a 
Rose. 

A  badge  or  cognizance  was  a  figure  chosen  by 
its  owner  either  as  openly  significant  of  some  exploit 
of  honor  or  note  of  some  member  of  his  family  ; 
or  as  alluding  to  his  name  or  estate  or  office  or 
calling.  A  bacige  was  not  bound  by  heralds’  rules 
though  it  often  became  an  heraldic  bearing  ;  it  might 
have  been  given  as  a  token  of  the  favor  of  a  leader 
or  sovereign,  and  it  was  worn  openly  as  a  token  of 
allegiance.  Each  nobleman’s  badge  was  prominent 
in  his  dress,  on  sleeve  or  breast ;  and  it  glittered  on 
his  standards,  his  warlike  trappings. 

Though  both  were  emblems,  the  device  differed 
from  a  badge  in  several  ways,  the  most  important 
being  that  the  badge  was  an  open  declaration  of  the 
personality  of  the  wearer  and  its  chief  object  was 
to  accomplish  publicity ;  while  the  device  or  im- 
prese  had  an  inner,  often  a  hidden  meaning,  and 
was  sometimes  assumed  for  the  purpose  of  ingenious 
mystification.  It  should  not  be  “so  obscure  as 
to  require  a  sphinx  to  interpret  it,”  Sir  William 
Drummond  said,  “  but  should  be  somewhat  retired 
from  the  capacity  of  the  vulgar.”  It  must  have  two 
parts,  a  picture  and  a  motto,  —  a  painted,  carved,  or 
embroidered  metaphor,  and  also  a  motto,  preferably 
in  a  foreign  tongue  ;  the  “  body  ”  and  the  “  spirit  ” 
the  Italians  said.  The  Italian  term  impresa  or 
imprese  was  used  as  frequently  as  the  word  device. 
We  have  a  lingering  bequest  of  the  old  mediaeval 
device  in  our  modern  book-plate,  which  should  still 
ever  have  the  “body”  and  the  “  spirit.”  Devices 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  321 


were  far  more  popular  on  the  Continent  than  in 
England,  and  those  “  curious  ”  English  folk  who 
travelled  or  lived  on  the  Continent  —  as,  for  instance, 
Mary  Oueen  of  Scots  — were  most  learned  in  devices. 


Roses  at  Gravetye  Manor,  Sussex,  England;  Home  of  William 
Robinson,  Author  of  the  English  Flower  Garden. 

A  few  family  badges  still  linger  in  England,  the 
Pelham  buckle  being  one  ;  and  in  the  history  ot  the 
English  throne  we  have  the  badges  of  the  Sun  of 
York,  the  Broom  of  the  Plantagenets,  and  the  Roses 
of  York  and  Lancaster;  the  history  of  P.nglish 
royal  badges  would  be  the  feudal  history  of  England. 

King  Edward  I,  irreverently  called  “  Longshanks,” 
was  the  first  English  sovereign  who  assumed  “  A 
Rose,  or  stalked  proper,”  as  his  badge,  a  golden 


322  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Rose  in  natural  form.  Many  and  important  were 
the  events  of  his  reign  which  ended  in  1307.  It  is 
therefore  six  centuries  since  there  was  a  Royal  Rose 
of  England. 

I  shall  not  enter  at  any  detail  into  that  pro¬ 
longed  story  of  battle  and  extinction  of  the  House 
of  Plantagenet,  known  as  The  War  of  the  Roses. 
The  first  appearance  in  historic  tradition  of  “  the 
fatal  colors  of  our  striving  houses”  —  those  of 
York  and  of  Lancaster  —  was  about  1450.  In  the 
Temple  Gardens,  Somerset  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
plucked,  the  former  a  red  Rose,  and  the  earl  a  white 
Rose,  and  called  upon  every  man  present  to  declare 
himself  as  to  his  cause  and  house.  Shakespeare 
gives  a  spirited  version  of  the  scene  in  Act  II, 
Part  I,  of  King  Henry  VI :  — 

“  Richard  Plantagenet  : 

Let  him  that  is  a  true  born  gentleman 
And  stands  upon  the  honour  of  his  birth. 

If  he  suppose  that  I  have  pleaded  truth. 

From  off  this  brier  pluck  a  white  Rose  with  me. 

Somerset  : 

Let  him  that  is  no  coward  and  no  flatterer. 

But  dare  maintain  the  party  of  the  truth. 

Pluck  a  red  Rose  from  off  this  thorn  with  me. 

Warwick  : 

I  love  no  colours  :  and  without  all  colour 
Of  base  insinuating  flattery 
I  pluck  this  white  Rose  with  Plantagenet. 

Suffolk  : 

I  pluck  this  red  Rose  with  young  Somerset.” 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  323 
Then  came,  as  Shakespeare  wrote  :  — 

“The  brawl  to-day 

Grown  to  this  faction  in  the  Temple  Garden 
Shall  send,  between  the  red  Rose  and  the  white, 

A  thousand  souls  to  death  and  deadly  night.” 

By  some  the  red  Rose  is  assigned  originally  to 
Eleanor  of  Provence,  the  queen  of  Henry  III.  The 
tomb  of  her  second  son,  Edward,  Lord  of  Lancaster, 
was  covered  with  red  Roses.  Edward’s  son  was  the 
first  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  had  on  his  seal  a  branch 
of  Roses,  and  bequeathed  to  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral 
his  bed,  “  powdered  with 
roses,”  which  must  have 
been  fine  indeed  —  but 
I  wonder  where  and  to 
what  use  it  was  put  in  the 
cathedral. 

Edward  IV  placed  the 
white  Rose  en  soleil  to 
commemorate  his  victory 
at  the  battle  of  Morti¬ 
mer’s  Cross,  where  the 
sun  appeared  to  him 
“  like  three  suns  and  sud¬ 
denly  joyned  altogether 
into  one,”  —  a  singular  meteorological  phenome¬ 
non  which  is  believed  to  have  actually  occurred  at 
that  time  and  place. 

Another  Elizabethan  dramatist,  Drayton,  wrote 
in  his  play.  The  Miseries  of  Queen  Margarite ,  of  this 
strange  example  of  unusual  physical  forces:  — 


Rose  en  Soleil ;  emblem  of 
Edward  IV  of  England. 


324  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

“  Three  suns  were  seen  that  instant  to  appear 
Which  soon  againe  shut  up  themselves  in  one. 

So  that  thereby  encouraging  his  men 

Once  more  he  sets  the  white  Rose  up  again.” 

The  Rose  en  sole'll  appears  on  the  Irish  groats  of 
this  King  Edward.  An  ancient  initial  with  the  de¬ 
sign  of  the  Rose  en  soleil  opens  the  chapter  entitled 
The  Rosicrucians.  Edward’s  favorite  badge  was  a 
gold  collar  of  suns  and  Roses  with  the  white  Lion 
of  March  hanging  from  it,  which  must  have  been  a 
seemly  and  a  pleasing  decoration.  Edward  IV  was 
often  called  “  the  Rose  of  Rouen,”  he  having  been 
born  in  that  town  in  1441-42.  Lie  presented  him¬ 
self  in  London  when  nineteen  years  old  and  claimed 
the  English  crown.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  he  was 
“  the  beautifullest  prince  of  his  time  ”  helped  his 
welcome.  Agnes  Strickland  gives  one  of  his  coro¬ 
nation  songs,  which  begins  thus  :  — 

“Now  is  the  Rose  of  Rouen  grown  to  great  honour  ; 

Therefore  sing  wee  everyone  y-blessed  be  that  flower. 

I  warn  ye  everyone  that  ye  shall  onderstand 

There  sprung  a  Rose  in  Rouen  that  opened  in  England. 

Had  not  the  Rose  of  Rouen  been,  all  England  had  been  dour; 

Y-blessed  be  the  time  God  ever  spread  that  flower.” 

In  Edward’s  reign  was  produced  a  beautiful  new 
coin  called  the  rose-noble.  He  issued  this  coin  in 
honor  of  a  famous  victory  by  sea,  thus  referred  to 
in  an  old  ballad  :  — 

“  But  King  Edward  made  a  Seige  Royall 
And  won  the  Town,  and  in  speciall 
The  Sea  was  kept,  and  thereof  he  was  Lord. 

Thus  made  he  Nobles  coined  of  Record.” 


Sun-dial  formerly  at  The  Mount,  Astoria,  New  York,  now  at  Bolton  Priory,  Pelham  Manor,  New  York  ; 

Seat  of  Frederick  Allen,  Esq. 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  325 

He  was  a  distinct  believer  in  magic  arts,  in 
alchemy  in  particular. 

Either  on  this  coin,  or  in  one  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  I,  hangs  a  tale  of  magic.  Both  were  ex¬ 
quisitely  fine  and  beautiful,  and  so  much  gold  was 
used  in  the  whole  coinage  that  the  word  quickly 
spread  that  it  had  been  produced  by  the  aid  of 
magic.  Camden  says  of  the  earlier  coin  :  — 

“  Our  alchemists  doe  affirm  as  an  unwritten  verity  that 
the  gold  thereof  was  made  by  multiplication  or  projection 
alchemicall  of  Raymond  Lully  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

A  rose-noble  was  held  to  be  a  sort  of  amulet ; 
that  the  possession  of  one  hindered  the  theft  of  a 
purse  containing  it. 

The  antiquary  Ashmole  gives  a  circumstantial 
account  of  the  coming  of  Lully  to  England  with 
Cremer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  of  a  con¬ 
tract  with  King  Edward  I  to  supply  him  with  this 
coin  for  which  the  king  pledged  war  against  the 
Turks.  The  suspicious  king  “  clapt  him  up  ”  in 
the  Tower,  where  the  coinage  was  finally  carried  out. 
I  have  told  at  some  length  the  story  of  Lully  and 
King  Edward  I  in  my  chapter  on  the  Rosicrucians. 

By  the  time  of  Henry  IV  so  strong  was  the 
belief  in  alchemy  that  laws  were  enacted  limiting  its 
employment.  A  serious  message  exists  to  a  well- 
known  coiner  and  alchemist,  John  French,  in  regard 
to  “  p’ctising  a  true  and  p’f ’table  conclusion  on  cun- 
nyge  of  transmutacyon  of  metalls  to  own  p’f’t  and 
pleasure.”  The  said  French  was  not  to  be  “  letted 
troubled  or  vexed  of  his  labour  for  own  p’f’t.” 


326  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Four  of  the  rose-nobles  of  Edward  IV  weighed 
one  ounce ;  there  were  also  double  rose-nobles  and 
half  rose-nobles.  Some  of  the  smaller  pieces  bore 
the  motto,  Rosa  sine  spina.  The  gold  coin  of  Henry 
VIII  which  bore  the  design  ot  the  Tudor  Rose 
with  the  motto  of  the  rose-noble  is,  I  think,  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  English  coins.  King  James 
had  several  exquisite  coins  also,  with  a  Thistie  on 

one  side  and  a  Rose 
on  the  other. 

Richard  III  used 
the  badge  of  a  Rose 
en  soleil ,  or  a  Rose 
with  a  Sun ;  also  a 
falcon  with  a  maid¬ 
en’s  head  here  shown. 
Sometimes  this  falcon 
held  a  Rose.  Another 
favorite  cognizance  of  the  king  was  a  boar,  called 
coarsely  by  the  king’s  haters  a  hog.  Referring  to 
this  badge,  a  piece  of  doggerel  rhyme  was  written 
which  caused  the  beheading  of  its  seditious  author:  — 

“  The  Ratte,  the  Catte,  and  Lovell  our  Dogge 
Rule  all  England  under  the  Hogge.” 

The  king  clung  boldly  and  persistently  to  his 
badge ;  for  his  second  coronation  he  ordered  and 
distributed  thirteen  thousand  cognizances  of  fustian 
decorated  with  boars.  He  wore  it  till  he  died,  bear¬ 
ing  his  standard  with  a  boar  —  died  with  “both  his 
legs  cut  him  from  ” ;  and  then,  when  dead,  was 
carried  “  like  a  hog-calf”  hanging  across  his  horse. 


Emblem  of  Richard  111  of  England. 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  327 

Then  all  the  boars  speedily  disappeared  ;  from 
standard  or  sign-board  they  were  pulled  down  all 
over  the  kingdom.  A  few  old  inns  afterward  re¬ 
instated  the  “  Blue  Boar  ”  or  the  “  White  Boar.” 

With  the  house  of  Tudor  came  in  the  Tudor 
Rose  :  — 

“  The  rose  of  snow 

Twined  with  her  blushing  foe,” 

also  a  “  Hawthorne  bush  fruited  and  ensigned 
with  the  royal  crown  proper  between  the  letters 
H.  R.”  Th  is  badge  is  shown  on  this 
page,  and  the  device  was  chosen  to 
commemorate  the  hiding  of  Richard’s 
crown  in  a  Hawthorn  bush.  It  was 
found  while  he  was  being  carried  off 
“  like  a  hog-calf,”  and  thrust  on  his 
successor’s  head;  this  on  Crown  Hill, 
which  bears  the  name  to  this  day. 

Truly  those  “  blended  Roses  were 
bought  dear.” 

The  two  Roses,  the  white  and  the 
red  of  the  Tudor  Rose,  were  worn  in 
many  ways,  —  sometimes  per  pale, 
sometimes  quarterly,  usually  a  white  Rose  charged 
on  a  red  one  ;  often  they  were  crowned  or  en  soleil. 
On  the  marriage  of  Henry  VII  Fuller  called  it 
“  that  sweet  posie  wherein  white  and  red  Roses 
were  first  tied  together.” 

Henry  VIII  added  a  cock,  the  badge  of  Wales, 
to  the  Rose,  and  had  many  other  badges  and  devices. 
H  is  first  wife,  Katherine  of  Aragon,  had  as  a  badge 
a  pomegranate  open,  disclosing  the  Tudor  Rose. 


Emblem  of 
Henry  VII  of 
England. 


328  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Emblem  of  Katherine 
of  Aragon,  first 
Queen  of  Henry  VIII 
of  England. 


King  Henry  thus  kept  Christmas  in  the  eighth  year 
of  his  reign  in  honor  of  Katherine  :  there  was  set  in 
the  hall  of  his  manor  at  Greenwich 
a  “  garden-artificie”  called  the 
“Garden  of  Esperance.”  Tow¬ 
ered  at  every  corner,  and  railed 
with  rails  of  gilt,  the  banks 
set  with  flowers  of  gold  and  silver 
with  green  satin  leaves,  this  gar¬ 
den  centred  around  a  pillar  of  gold 
set  with  precious  stones.  “  And 
at  the  top  of  the  six-square  pillar 
was  an  arch  embowered  around 
with  gold  within  which  stood  a  bush  of  roses  red 
and  white,  all  of  silk  and  gold,  and  a  bush  of  pome¬ 
granates  of  like  stuff.” 

Anne  Boleyn  had  a  com¬ 
plicated  device,  shown  on 
this  page,  —  a  combination 
of  a  stump  of  a  tree,  a 
silver  falcon  with  a  royal 
crown  and  sceptre.  From 
the  tree  stump  came  a  stiff 
spray  of  red  and  white  roses. 
Her  motto  was,  “To  me 
and  mine.”  No  pageant 
was  too  extravagant,  no 
honor  too  great,  for  King 
Henry  VIII  to  display  at 
her  coronation.  Katherine’s 

Emblem  of  Anne  Boleyn.  garden-artifice  seems  but  a 
second  Queen  of  Henry  VIII  0  ... 

Of  England.  Poor  thing  in  comparison. 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  329 


Descriptions  by  eye-witnesses  tell  of  a  glory  of 
color  and  music.  There  was  “  a  costly  and  marvel¬ 
lously  cunning  pageant  ”  on  the 
water.  Everywhere  was  seen 
the  queen’s  device ;  on  foists, 
which  were  lightly  built  ships, 
were  “  mounts  bearing  a  white 
faulcon  crowned  upon  a  roote 
of  golde  environed  with  white 
roses  and  red,  which  was  the 
queen’s  device,  about  which 
mount  sat  virgins  singing  and 
playing  melodiously.”  These 
foists  were  strung  with  streamers, 
flags,  and  banners,  edged  with 
little  “  lasserrers,”  or  cords, 

“  hanged  with  innumerable  little 
bells  at  the  end  which  made  a  goodly  noyse,  and  was 
a  goodly  sight  wavering  in  the  wind.”  T  he  next  day 
the  queen  saw  a  similar  exhibition  :  — 


Emblem  of  Jane  Sey¬ 
mour,  third  Queen  of 
Henry  VIII  of  Eng¬ 
land. 


“  A  goodly  pageant  with  a  tippe  and  heavenly  Rose  and 
under  the  tippe  was  a  goodly  roote  of  gold,  set  on  a  little 
Mountain  environed  with  Red  Roses  and  White,  out  of  the 
tippe  came  down  a  faulcon  all  white,  and  set  upon  the 
roote ;  and  incontinently  came  down  an  angel  with  great 
melodie,  and  set  a  close  crown  of  gold  on  the  faulcon’s 
head;  and  in  the  same  sat  St.  Ann,  with  all  her  issue;  and 
under  Mary  Cleophe  sate  her  four  children,  of  the  which 
children  one  made  a  goodly  ovation  to  the  Queen.” 


Fountains  of  wine  and  conduits  of  sweet  water  ran 
everywhere  ;  cupboards  of  silver,  displays  of  gems  ; 


330  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

angels  and  graces  vied  in  singing  praises ;  hippocras 
and  wafers  were  significantly  partaken.  All  the 
clergy  glorified  her,  all  the  duchesses  and  count¬ 
esses  bowed  before  her,  and  there  was  not  one  who 
knew  of  that  other  terrible  decrowning  so  soon  to 
follow. 

Poor  Anne  of  Cleves  had  a  fresh  device,  and  the 
fatuous  inscription  on  her  wedding-ring  was,  “  God 

send  me  wel  to  kepe.”  Kath¬ 
erine  Howard  and  Katherine 
Parr  both  had  augmentation  of 
arms,  and  an  ugly  device  of  a 
woman’s  head  crowned,  sur¬ 
mounting  a  segment  of  a  triple 
Rose,  which  is  here  shown. 
Jane  Seymour’s  motto  was, 
“Bound  to  obey  and  serve,” 
and  a  singular  device  of  a  castle, 
tree,  phoenix,  and  Tudor  Rose. 
It  is  shown  on  page  329. 

H  enry  VI IPs  son  Edward 
did  not  use  the  Rose  in 
Queen  Mary  had  a  singular 
badge,  shown  on  page  331,  composed  from  those 
of  her  parents.  In  it  appeared  the  Tudor  Rose,  a 
sheaf  of  arrows,  and  a  crown.  Queen  Elizabeth  had 
for  her  badge  a  Rose  crowned,  for  England  ;  a  Fleur 
de  Lis  crowned,  for  France;  a  harp  ensigned  with  a 
crown,  for  Ireland.  Many  of  the  coins  of  her  reign 
bore  the  figure  of  a  Rose.  “  Bright-red  Rose  with¬ 
out  a  Thorn  ”  is  on  some  of  her  coins.  I  suppose 
no  queen  ever  lived  who  more  fancied  complicated 


Emblem  of  Katherine 
Parr,  sixth  Queen  of 
Henry  VIII  of  England. 

his  cognizance,  but 


Emblem  of  the  Rose  in  English  History  331 

allegories,  emblems,  symbols,  and  devices  ;  they  were 
an  unconscious  revelation,  an  evidence  of  the  slyness 
of  her  nature. 

James  I  had  as  a  motto,  “  Blessed  are  the  peaceful.” 
With  him  the  Scotch  Thistle  entered  the  royal  badge 
ever  to  remain;  and  its  representation  on  page  332 
proves  his  badge  a  very  pretty  one. 

On  the  coins  struck  for  the  coronation  of  Charles 
I,  1633,  was  a  great  Thistle  with  the  motto  :  “  Here 
grow  our  Roses.”  Queen 
Anne  had  on  her  seal  a  Rose 
and  Thistle  springing  from 
the  same  stem,  and  the 
motto,  Concordes.  The  pres¬ 
ent  royal  badges  were  settled 
in  1801,  and  that  of  England 
is  a  white  Rose  within  the 
red  Rose.  Thus  has  the 
Rose  felt  the  very  heart¬ 
beat  of  English  history. 

we  not,  then,  in  the 
recollection  of  all  this  allied 
Rose  history,  glow  with  the  pleasure  of  retrospection 
allied  to  present  gratification  in  the  sight  of  a  beau¬ 
tiful  York  and  Lancaster  Rose?  This  storied  Rose 
has  been  pushed  aside  for  many  years  by  the  hybrid 
perpetual  Roses ;  but  now  that  the  love  for  old- 
fashioned  flowers  has  risen  with  such  force,  it  is 
again  offered  for  sale,  and  promises  to  have  much 
popularity.  It  is  a  brave  creature,  having  a  clean- 
cut,  bold  striping,  and  mingling  of  pure  white  and 
bright  red.  It  is  sturdy,  too,  in  growth,  not  a  cling- 


Emblem  of  Queen  Mary  of 
England. 


332  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


ing,  gentle  flower,  but  one  fit  to  be  associated  with 
the  history  of  wars. 

The  Rose  we  here  call  York  and 
Lancaster  was  called  Rose  versicolor 
by  Parkinson  in  his  Paradius  in  Sole , 
Paradisus  Terrestris  —  A  Garden  of 
all  Sorts  of  Pleasant  Flowers.  Mrs. 
Ewing  founded  a  Parkinson  Society 
to  promote  a  love  of  old-fashioned 
flowers ;  but  Parkinson’s  book  is 
too  rare  to  be  of  influence  here. 
When  I  inquired  throughout  our 
public  libraries  in  1901,  not  a  copy 
was  to  be  found  in  America.  For¬ 
tunately  I  secured  for  my  daugh¬ 
ter’s  collection  of  old  herbals  and  flower-books, 
begun  when  she  was  a  little  girl,  a  copy  of  Parkin¬ 
son’s  Paradisus  in  Sole  in  the  first  edition,  and  the 
constant  reference  to  it  and  Gerarde’s  Herball  (the 
second  edition)  have  been  an  infinite  pleasure  to  me. 
I  would  I  could  quote  Parkinson’s  words  in  full 
upon  the  York  and  Lancaster  Rose! 


Emblem  of 
James  I  of  England. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


our  grandmothers’  roses 

“  To  be  chronicled,  and  chronicled,  and  cut  and  chronicled,  and 
all-tO-be-praised.  — Worthies  of  England.  Thomas  Fuller. 

WO  Rose-books  are  to  me 
absolute  authority  for  Rose- 
knowledge  of  one  hundred 
years  ago,  ere  the  Rose-treas¬ 
ures  of  China  were  lavished 
on  our  gardens.  One  is  Mil- 
ler’s  Gardener  s  and  Botanist' s 
Dictionary ,  London,  1807. 
My  four  volumes  are  of  great 
weight,  literally,  being  nearly 
nineteen  inches  in  height.  I  think  this  vast  size  and 
weight  has  kept  them  from  frequent  consultation, 
hence  the  perfect  condition  of  the  lovely  binding.  It 
is  a  splendid  work,  so  temperate  and  lucid  in  descrip¬ 
tion  ;  in  it  forty  species  of  Roses  are  given  with  the 
different  varieties  of  each  —  about  two  hundred  in  all. 

The  second  book  is  beloved  of  all  Rose-lovers,  Les 
Roses  par  P.  J.  Redoute.  Two  of  the  illustrations 
are  reproduced,  but  colorless,  on  pages  353  and  354. 
At  first  sight  of  the  exquisite  Roses  which  bloom  on 
these  pages  they  seem  to  be  hand  colored  by  some 

333 


334  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

most  skilful,  sympathetic,  albeit  old-fashioned  water¬ 
colorist.  But  they  are  not  tinted  by  hand  ;  they  are 
wonderful  examples  of  what  was  then  a  newly  dis¬ 
covered  process  of  color-printing.  The  book  was 
issued  in  1824,  fast  approaching  a  century  ago,  and 
is  unexcelled  by  any  Rose-book  to-day. 

The  Empress  Josephine  had  a  charming  Rose 
garden  at  Malmaison;  and  when  the  Allies  entered 
Paris  in  1815,  vigorous  orders  were  given  to  protect 
always  her  garden.  I  am  told  there  still  exists  in 
the  English  navy  a  standing  order  since  the  time 
of  England’s  war  with  France,  that  all  seeds  and 
plants  and  shrubs  bearing  her  address,  when  seized 
on  French  vessels  by  the  English,  should  be  at  once 
forwarded  to  her,  a  true  courtesy  of  war. 

Though  the  Rose  is  the  emblem  of  England,  many 
of  our  best  Roses  bear  French  names;  for  no 
marked  progress  in  Rose  cultivation  in  any  country 
took  place  till  1815,  when  Vibert,  the  first  of  the 
great  French  Rose  growers,  founded  his  nursery. 
It  was  owing  to  the  patronage  of  the  Empress  Jo¬ 
sephine  that  he  could  accomplish  his  great  results. 
It  is  only  forty  years  since  English  Rose  growers 
raised  any  important  Roses.  In  imitation  of  Jac- 
quin,  Redoute  brought  out  in  1803  a  sumptuous 
book  on  this  garden  at  Malmaison,  dedicated,  of 
course,  to  the  empress.  He  also  illustrated  Rous¬ 
seau’s  Botany  with  sixty-five  beautiful  flower-pic¬ 
tures.  They  had  charming  Roses  in  1824  —  Roses 
which  would  not  all  take  prizes  at  Rose  shows  to-day, 
but  very  cheerful  flowers,  wholesome,  hardy  flowers, 
and  some  of  them  very  delicate  and  exquisite  flowers. 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


335 


I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  happiness  this  week 
in  going  through  the  pages  of  Redoute  in  company 
with  Miss  Jekyll’s  and  Mr.  Mawley’s  Roses  for  Eng¬ 
lish  Gardens ,  which  has  just  come  to  me.  A  photo¬ 
graph  does  not  convey  a  good  idea  of  the  personality 
of  a  Rose  ;  with  the  distinguishing  color  gone,  a 
curious  sameness  appears.  I  have  seen  an  experi¬ 
enced  Rosarian  sit  puzzling  over  a  photograph  of 
a  Rose-bush, 
where  the  leaves 
and  stems  were 
not  very  plainly 
shown,  and  the 
pictured  flowers 
were  small, 
hesitating  over 
the  correct 
naming  of  the 
photographed 
Rose.  And 
worse  still,  but 
amusing,  a 
lover  of  Roses 
had  last  sum¬ 
mer  about 
fortv-five  pho¬ 
tographs  taken  June  Rose‘ 

of  Roses  intending  them  for  lantern-slides  to  use 
to  illustrate  a  carefully  studied  lecture  on  Garden 
Roses  which  he  was  to  deliver  before  a  very  intel¬ 
lectual  audience.  Three  or  four  weeks  elapsed  ere 
the  pictures  came  to  him  ;  and  then,  to  his  chagrin, 


336  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

he  found  he  could  not  use  half  of  them  ;  for  when 
there  was  no  tell-tale  attribute,  such  as  a  neighbor¬ 
ing  stick,  a  known  grouping,  or  some  unusual  dis¬ 
tinction  of  stem  or  foliage,  as  has  the  Burnet-leaved 
Rose,  he  could  not  positively  name  his  Roses. 

I  wonder  if  this  simple  picture  of  a  Rose  in  bloom 
(page  335)  will  convey  to  any  gentle  reader  who 
glances  at  it  in  the  winter  months  when  this  book  will 
be  seen  by  that  reader’s  eyes,  any  of  the  pleasure  of 
reminiscence  of  the  old-time  garden  which  the  photo¬ 
graph  brought  to  me  when  I  first  saw  it  on  a  bitter 
day  in  March.  I  had  not  in  it  the  carmine  color, 
but  I  had  the  precise  shape  of  a  Rose  I  loved,  the 
first  Rose  of  summer,  the  June  Rose,  which  might 
almost  be  the  May  Rose,  since  it  has  laughed 
outright  with  its  cheerful  glowing  blossoms,  and 
become  silent  and  grown  all  green  again  before  any 
other  June  Rose  has  opened  a  bud.  It  blossomed 
in  an  interval  of  time  —  a  week  only — when  noth¬ 
ing  else  bloomed,  save  possibly  Money  in  both 
Pockets.  Thus  it  had  a  double  welcome,  —  it  was 
for  a  time  the  only  Rose,  and  it  was  the  only  flower. 
This  picture  does  not,  perhaps,  give  to  one  who 
had  never  seen  this  Rose  a  notion  of  the  saucer-like 
expanse  of  the  full-blown  petals  when  in  the  hot 
sunshine.  Its  pure  crimson  disc  is  a  bit  like  the 
Rosa  rugosa ,  but  a  more  perfect  circle  and  an  infi¬ 
nitely  better  color.  This  old  favorite  still  is  seen  in 
many  front  yards  in  New  Hampshire;  at  one  farm¬ 
house  it  has  filled  the  entire  yard.  It  is  called  there 
the  Hedgehog  Rose,  from  its  sharp  thorns.  Its  fra¬ 
grance  is  precisely  that  of  an  American  Beauty  Rose  ; 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses  337 

and  it  is  a  close-grained,  compact  fragrance,  —  a 
fragrance  of  weight.  You  can  almost  imagine  a  little 
globule  of  solid  perfume  standing  on  each  crimson 


Scotch  Roses. 

saucer  ready  for  you  to  gather  up  as  you  pass,  and 
keep  forever  as  a  memorial  of  spring  and  sunshine. 

There  is  a  May  Rose  of  the  botanies,  Rosa  majalis , 
a  native  of  Sweden  and  Lapland,  and  of  Yorkshire, 
said  to  have  “pale  red”  flowers.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  the  single  state  of  the  Rosa  Cinnamonea ,  and 
from  other  details  of  the  description  might  be  my 


338  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

June  Rose,  if  you  could  possibly  conceive  any  one 
calling  the  color  a  pale  red.  But  there  were  strange 
vagaries  of  color-naming  and  seeing  in  the  old 
botanists. 

The  next  Roses  in  bloom  were  the  Scotch  Roses, 
yellow  and  white;  these  seem  little  cared  for  to-day. 
They  do  not,  of  course,  satisfy  any  ambitious  Ro- 
sarian.  Their  peculiarities  of  growth  are  well  shown 
on  page  337.  Yellow  Roses  were  so  few  that  the 
yellow  Scotch  Rose  held  in  favor  longer  than  the 
white  variety.  The  Austrian  Yellow  Rose,  cen¬ 
turies  old,  and  the  Persian  Yellow  are  little  seen  ; 
the  latter  is  such  a  vile  renegade  as  to  its  scent  that 
it  should  not  be  called  a  Rose.  It  is  an  unutterable 
Joan  Silverpin,  “faire  without,  foule  within,”  and 
owes  its  uprootal  from  many  a  garden  because  it 
“smells  to  heaven.”  The  Harrison  Rose  is  by  tra¬ 
dition  named  to  commemorate  a  political  event,  the 
election  of  the  first  President  Harrison. 

We  never  gathered  the  yellow  Roses,  for  two  rea¬ 
son  :  their  frail  petals  dropped  so  quickly  that  they 
were  valueless,  and  their  spiny  armament  was  too 
defensive  for  ordinary  attack.  It  seemed  to  show 
that  they  were  never  intended  to  be  picked.  As  for 
the  Persian  Yellow — there  was  a  third  reason  already 
told.  Long  straggling  branches,  all  closely  armed, 
carried  the  yellow  bloom  of  the  Scotch  Roses  afar, 
and  gave  a  rather  shapeless  appearance  to  the  bush, 
one  that  would  be  abhorred  by  modern  lovers  of  Rose- 
pillars  and  Rose-standards. 

Stretching  out  thus  in  each  branch,  with  its  finely 
cut,  close-set  leafage,  it  certainly  had  the  effect  of  a 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


339 


close-tied  wreath,  with  yellow  blossoms  tied  in,  short¬ 
stemmed,  to  the  very  end  of  the  drooping,  swaying 
wreath.  Country  folk  called  it  the  Yellow  Wreath 


Harrison  Yellow  Rose. 


Rose.  Whatever  the  scent  of  the  flower  of  the 
Harrison  Rose,  and  all  Rose  friends  differ,  even  to 
the  extent  of  questioning  whether  it  has  any  scent, 
the  leaf  certainly  has  the  true  sweet-brier  fragrance. 


340 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Yellow  Wreath  Rose. 


Only  a  whiff,  however,  which  you  cannot  perceive 
at  all  when  you  try  to;  nor  could  any  one  else  smell 
it  if  you  told  them  of  it. 

Mrs.  Martha  McCulloch  Williams  calls  the  Bur¬ 
net-leaved  Rose  the  Burr  Rose,  and  its  calyx  is 
covered  with  close  green  prickles  like  a  burr ;  she 
compares  it  to  a  “  flat  dish  of  crinkly  pink  crepe,” 
which  is  a  fine  description. 

There  was  a  nameless  Rose  of  rampant  and  cheer¬ 
ful  growth,  a  Rose  which  was  everywhere.  Its 
purply  crimson  deeply  cupped  blooms  were  fine  in 
shape  and  color,  not  being  magenta-tinted  when 
in  half-bloom  ;  but  when  fully  expanded  or  when 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses  341 

picked  they  turned  a  dulled  tint,  looked  faded,  muddy- 
colored,  and  showed  white  streaks  at  the  base  of  the 
petals.  You  always  found  this  Rose  in  the  poorest 
homes,  usually  at  the  kitchen  door,  where  it  fairly 
kept  down  the  weeds.  We  called  it  the  Purple  Rose; 
I  think  it  must  be  the  Purple  Bouquet  of  Mrs. 
Williams,  of  which  she  says:  — 

“  In  all  the  Rose  Kingdom  there  is  no  other  burgess  so 
cheery,  so  thrifty,  withal  so  happy  as  the  Purple  Bouquet. 
It  asks  only  leave  to  grow,  never  a  chance ;  will  spread  to 
a  green  mound  or  shrink  to  one  starveling  stalk,  as  fate  may 
ordain.  Great  or  small,  it  has  always  bloom  and  to  spare 
for  you.” 

This  Purple  Bouquet  was  one  of  the  family  Rosa 
gallica  or  Provins  Rose,  and  I  think  the  Gallica 
officinalis;  I  hope  I  shall  not  seem  “to  say  an  un¬ 
disputed  thing  in  such  a  solemn  way  ”  if  I  remind 
my  reader  that  Provins  and  Provence  Rose  are  very 
different  garden  Roses ;  the  Provence  is  the  Rosa 
centifolia ,  the  French  call  it  always  Rose  a  cent-feuilles. 

I  know  not  the  precise  name  of  this  Purple 
Bouquet,  for  nearly  all  of  this  family  are  purple¬ 
flushing.  Redoute  gives  several  which  might  be  our 
Purple  Bouquet,  and  the  common  Provins  Rose, 
known  as  the  Apothecaries’  Rose,  is  in  the  illustra¬ 
tion  precisely  like  our  Rose.  One,  the  type,  the 
nearly  single  Rosa  fumila  or  Austrian  Rose,  is  the 
Rosier  d' amour  of  the  French  book,  though  that  is 
not  the  Rose  so  known  in  England.  Another  was 
called  by  the  Frenchman  the  “  Cabbage  Provins.” 

One  called  by  Redoute  the  Purple  Velvet  Rose,  I 


342  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

recognize  as  our  Black  Rose.  This  was  so  color¬ 
flushing  that  even  the  wood  had  purplish  black 
streaks.  This  and  several  of  the  fine  Roses  of  this 
family  were  grown  for  the  garden  of  Josephine  at 
Malmaison,  and  the  finest  propagated  by  themselves 
when  the  garden  was  comparatively  neglected,  after 
her  death ;  they  were  sturdy,  independent  things ; 
you  couldn’t  kill  them  ;  underground  roots  carried 
them  far  and  wide.  I  have  seen  a  backyard  and 
vegetable  garden,  the  kitchen  yard  of  a  deserted 
farm-house,  over  one  acre  in  extent,  covered  with  a 
mass  of  these  Purple  Bouquet  Roses,  which  had 
triumphed  over  every  other  growing  green  thing. 
And  I  have  seen  a  village  sidewalk  bordered  for  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  with  a  natural  Rose  hedge  of  this 
variety.  I  recall  that  one  New  England  rosarian 
—  I  call  her  that  though  her  whole  garden  wasn’t 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  square  —  always  called  the 
purple-pink  Rose  of  her  garden  the  Sultana  Rose. 
This  had  but  a  double  row  of  petals,  and  when  grown 
in  the  genial  sunshine,  which  seemed  ever  to  shine 
on  this  garden  of  cheerfulness,  these  petals  were  of 
an  infinitely  rich  color.  I  was  delighted  to  find  in 
Redoute  Mrs.  Pyncheon’s  Sultana  Rose,  under  the 
name  Belle  Sultane. 

Few  of  the  other  Provins  Roses  are  grown  in  the 
gardens  of  great  Rose  growers,  and  these  few  are 
not  our  Purple  and  Black  Roses.  Curiously  enough, 
the  poorest  to  my  mind  of  all,  the  Striped  Provins, 
still  are  grown  in  England,  among  them  Redoute’s 
Gros  Provins  Panachees  and  Gallica  versicolor ;  this 
is  called  by  Redoute  the  Rosamond. 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


343 


The  Rosa  lucida  is  the  Rose  called  in  England 
by  the  pretty  name  Rose  d' amour.  This  is  a 
true  American  Rose,  a  native.  I  have  seen  it 
growing  this  sum¬ 
mer  many  times, 
and  a  very  cheer¬ 
ful  bush  it  is, 
with  its  shiny, 
glossy  leaves  turn¬ 
ing  a  gay  light 
yellow,  with  some 
crimson  red  in 
autumn,  and  bear¬ 
ing  many  odd  flat¬ 
tened  hips.  In 
gardens  its  flower 
is  sometimes 
double  and  some¬ 
times  single,  with 
a  few  inner  half¬ 
rays  of  petals 
within  the  perfect 
row.  It  is  a  very 
d  i  ffe  r  e  n  t  pink 
from  the  Provence 
Rose  or  Cabbage 
Rose,  —  a  redder 
pink,  —  and  has 
not  the  beautiful  fragrance ;  in  fact,  it  is  one  of  the 
few  Roses  whose  scent  is  distinctly  distasteful. 

The  only  truly  American  roses  seen  universally 
in  our  gardens  are  the  beautiful  climbing  Prairie 


Baltimore  Belle. 


344  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Roses  ( Rosa  rubifolia).  These  were  originally  a 
native  of  Michigan  and  other  Western  states;  and 
the  clear  pink  single  variety,  known  as  the  Michigan 
Rose,  still  is  grown,  and  an  arch  of  it  is  a  perfect 
thing.  About  1836  the  Feast  brothers,  florists  in 
Baltimore,  developed  this  Rose,  and  gave  to  us  the 
beautiful  Baltimore  Belle,  the  Queen  of  the  Prairie, 
Anna  Maria,  and  Gem  of  the  Prairies,  which  last  is 
slightly  scented  sometimes,  —  not  always,  I  find. 

These  all  have  large  rough  dark-green  leaves  of 
five  to  seven  leaflets.  They  are  the  hardiest  climbers 
known,  and  are  far  more  rapid  in  growth  than  the 
Ayrshire  Roses.  And  they  come,  too,  when  many 
other  summer  Roses  are  gone,  when  the  Hundred¬ 
leaved  Rose  and  the  York  and  Lancaster  are  passing. 
They  are  not  so  delicate  as  the  climbing  Tea-Roses, 
but  they  are  more  generous ;  one  characteristic  is 
their  lavish  fulness  ;  they  seem  fairly  crowded  with 
petals.  And  another  is  their  wholesomeness  ;  they 
are  fresh  with  the  primeval  breath  of  the  Michigan 
forests  and  fields. 

When  they  could  have  the  Baltimore  Belle,  I 
cannot  understand  why  any  one  planted  the  Bour- 
sault  Roses,  but  they  grew  in  every  dooryard,  always 
by  the  kitchen  end  of  the  farm-house.  Forty  years 
ago  there  was  scarce  a  woodshed  in  New  England 
but  was  garlanded  with  the  crimson  Boursault  Rose. 
It  was  as  widely  planted  in  its  day  as  the  Crimson 
Rambler  in  our  own.  I  care  little  for  any  of  the  Bour- 
saults,  but  the  crimson  variety  was  certainly  cheerful. 
They  were  firm  climbers  and  almost  thornless.  What 
wonderful  things  were  the  new  stalks  of  the  Boursault ! 


Our  Grandmother’s  Roses 


345 


Massive,  straight,  strong,  they  pushed  like  Zedekiah. 
Tremendously  big-looking  they  were  in  proportion 
to  the  blossom,  which  seemed 

dull  of  tint  be-  the  tick 

dark  purples  and  reds  of  the 

young  stalks  with  their  curi¬ 
ous  d  1  u  m  1  i  k  e  bloom . 


Anne  de  Diesbach  Rose. 


346  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

At  the  base  of  page  345  is  shown  the  lavish  growth 
of  the  Anne  de  Diesbach  Rose,  one  of  the  “  middle- 
aged  ”  Roses  which  have  been  deservedly  popular 
for  a  score  or  two  of  years.  This  bush  is  twenty 
years  old,  —  the  hardiest,  sturdiest  thing,  bearing 
every  trying  extreme  of  New  England  winters,  and 
every  trying  pest  of  New  England  summers,  and 
sending  out  each  year  its  many  hard,  round  buds 
(the  knops  of  Chaucer),  which  should  be  gathered 
when  half  open  if  you  wish  to  secure  within  doors 
the  rich,  luscious  pink  of  the  outdoor  bloom.  An¬ 
other  beautiful  “  middle-aged  ”  Rose,  the  Lawson 
Rose,  is  wonderfully  satisfying.  One  of  the  first  of 
its  plants  was  set  in  the  Manning  garden,  in  Salem, 
where  all  flowers  prosper,  and,  above  all,  all  Roses. 
Its  pink  is  not  like  that  of  the  Anne  de  Diesbach, 
but  is  equally  beautiful. 

There  was  a  White  Rose  of  the  old  garden  which 
was  to  us  nameless,  a  June  Rose  of  fullest  bloom, 
and  greatly  beloved.  We  called  it  simply  “The 
White  Rose,”  never  confusing  it  with  the  Madame 
Plantier.  It  sent  out  very  long,  strong  shoots,  with 
strong,  small  thorns  and  rather  bluish  green  leaves, 
which  were  easily  ravaged  by  Rose  enemies.  There 
were  two  or  three,  or  even  five,  Roses  in  a  group 
together — not  in  a  thick  cluster,  like  the  Seven 
Sisters  —  but  always  with  one  Rose  a  bit  bigger 
and  finer  than  others  of  the  group.  This  flower  was 
very  rich  and  full,  perfectly  double ;  the  others 
might  show  a  trace  of  gold  in  the  heart.  Every 
freshly  opened  Rose  had  a  faint  suggestion  of  pink; 
but  on  the  second  day  were  absolutely  purest  white. 


The  White  Rose. 


% 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


347 


and  when  they  dropped,  almost  blue-white.  Occa¬ 
sionally  a  single  lovely  snow-white  Rose  would  ap¬ 
pear  in  bloom  on  this  bush  in  the  autumn,  and  was 
a  great  prize,  to  be  carefully  gathered  and  set. in 
the  slender,  wrought-silver  vase.  It  used  to  be  in  all 
gardens,  and  was  honored  in  all  gardens;  but  I  know 
but  one  garden  in  Worcester  where  there  is  a  large 
and  strong  Rose-bush  of  “The  White  Rose.”  It  is 
shown  facing  page  346.  I  know  not  of  what  Rose 
Cowper  wrote,  but  his  lines  might  well  be  written  of 
The  White  Rose,  as  it  stood  against  the  “  darkest 
gloom  ”  of  a  tall  cedar.  He  says  :  — 

“  The  scentless  and  the  scented  Rose  ;  this  red 
And  of  an  humbler  growth,  the  other  tall 
And  throwing  up  into  the  darkest  gloom 
Of  neighbouring  cypress  or  more  sable  yew 
Her  silver  globes,  light  as  the  foamy  surf 
That  the  wind  severs  from  the  broken  wave.” 

The  White  Rose  was,  without  doubt,  the  Rosa 
alba ,  for  its  leaves  had  the  bluish  tint  of  that  race.  It 
is  of  questioned  standing  in  Rose  lists,  being,  appar¬ 
ent^  a  cross  between  the  Canina  and  Gallica.  It  had 
a  cousin,  with  the  same  glaucous  leaves,  which  leaves 
had  an  almost  artificial  appearance.  I  his  cousin  was 
the  Blush  Rose,  or  the  Maiden’s  Blush,  deemed  by 
many  old-time  Rose  lovers  to  possess  the  most  deli¬ 
cate  and  exquisite  tint  of  any  Rose.  I  his  Rose  was 
easily  blighted  as  to  its  blossom  and  its  growth,  but 
was  valued  all  the  more  because  of  its  frailty.  It 
was  absent  from  our  garden  for  years,  but  we  have 
now  a  Blush  Rose-bush,  which  we  found  in  an 
old  garden.  The  story  of  its  finding  has  been  told 


348  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

so  perfectly  in  verses  by  Edgar  Fawcett  that  I  will 
give  them  instead  of  my  own  prose  :  — 

“  I  lean  across  the  sagging  gate  ; 

In  rough  neglect  the  garden  lies. 

Disfeatured  and  disconsolate. 

Below  these  halcyon  skies. 

ts  O’er  pleasant  ways  once  trimly  kept 
And  blossoming  fair  at  either  verge. 

Weeds  in  rank  opulence  have  swept 
Their  green  annulling  surge. 

“  But  over  there,  as  though  in  soft 

Memory  of  bloom  that  no  more  blows, 

A  Rose-bush  rears  one  bough  aloft 
Starred  with  one  stainless  Rose. 

“  Above  these  weeds,  whose  ruffian  power 
So  coarsely  envies  what  is  fair. 

She  bends  her  lightsome  dainty  flower 
With  such  patrician  air 

“  That  while  I  watch  this  chaste  young  Rose 
Some  pale,  scared  queen  she  seems  to  be. 

Across  whose  palace  courtyard  flows 
The  dark  mob  like  a  sea.” 

The  Madame  Plantier,  “  the  other  White  Rose,” 
as  we  called  it,  has  never  wavered  in  popularity 
nor  waned  in  goodness  since  the  first  June  when 
it  opened  its  eyes  on  American  soil.  It  was  warmly 
welcomed,  and  has  been  ever,  in  turn,  a  devoted 
citizen.  Other  Roses  often  give  to  us  on  occa¬ 
sional  years  but  a  handsel  of  bloom  ;  but  the  Ma¬ 
dame  Plantier  ever  lavishes  upon  us,  whether  in 
formal  garden  or  cottage  border,  whether  the  season 
be  cold  and  backward  or  dried  up  with  sudden 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


349 


My  master  hath  a  Garden, 
Which  flowers  fair  adorn 
And  lovely  Damask  Roses 
Are  there  called  Patience. 


drought,  a  profusion  of  snowy  blooms,  as  close- 
gathered  as  the  stars  in  the  Milky  Way. 

The  Damask  Rose  has  ever  been  a  favo¬ 
rite  comparison  to  indicate  the  delicate  com¬ 
plexion  of  a  fair  woman. 

A  pretty  name  may  be  given  the 
lovely  Damask  Rose.  An  old 
Dutch  carol  runs  thus  :  — 


Patience. 


350  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Old  Aubrey  wrote  nearly  three  centuries  ago  of 
that  fair  creature,  Venetia  Stanley,  wife  of  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby  :  — 

u  She  had  a  most  lovely  sweet-turn’d  face,  delicate  darke 
brown  haire.  She  had  a  perfectly  healthy  constitution ; 
strong,  good  skin;  well  proportioned;  enclining  to  a  Bona 
Roba.  Her  face,  a  short  oval  ;  darke-browne  eie-browe 
about  wch  much  sweetness,  as  alsoe  in  the  openinge  of  her 
eie-lidds.  The  colour  of  her  cheekes  was  just  that  of  the 
Damaske  Rose,  which  is  neether  too  hot  nor  too  pale.” 

This  certainly  is  a  beautiful  drawing  of  the  wife 
who  died  suddenly  and  was  reputed  to  be  poisoned  : 
“  wch  her  husband  imputed  to  her  drinking  of  viper- 
wine  ;  but  spiteful  women  would  say  ’twas  a 
viper-husband.”  And  I  always  recall  this  term 
viper-husband  when  I  read  Digby’s  pious  passages. 
A  handsome  portrait  of  her  still  shows  her  damask 
cheek.  A  beautiful  old  Damask  Rose-bush  over  one 
hundred  years  old  is  pictured  at  the  base  of  page  349. 

The  darker  shade  of  the  Damask  Rose  was  called 
the  Velvet  Rose ;  it  is  now  seldom  seen  save  in 
oldest  gardens,  but  I  shall  ever  love  it  for  its 
richness  of  color  of  leaf  and  flower,  so  rich  that 
color  seems  fairly  to  ooze  from  the  entire  plant. 
A  single  Velvet  Rose  in  a  vase  within  doors  is 
such  a  point  of  color  that  it  dims  all  else  in  the 
room.  It  is  the  finest  red-pink  in  the  whole  Rose 
world,  —  nay,  more,  in  the  whole  flower  world. 

The  Velvet  Rose  is  not  graceful  in  bud,  —  it  has 
then  a  blunted  look ;  nor  is  the  shape  when  fully 
opened  the  most  elegant  of  Rose  forms;  but  the 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses  351 

texture  !  the  color  !  the  scent !  to  tell  which  of  the 
three  is  the  finest  attribute  puzzles  the  Rose  lover, 
when  all  are  perfect.  I  have  a  splendid  Velvet 
Rose  given  to  me  by  a  rare  old  lady  of  Maine  who 
calls  it  the  French  Rose.  Well  is  it  named,  since 
it  is  the  “  living  emblem  and  the  sign  ”  of  a  wonder¬ 
ful  romance  of  French  history.  This  Rose  tells  the 
story  of  the  “Affair  of  the  Pinks,”  —  a  romance 
which  is  crying  out  to  be  told  in  an  historical  novel 
by  some  gifted  hand.  There  was  but  one  perfect 
bloom  this  year  on  the  old  Rose-bush  which  was 
transplanted  from  the  garden  of  Fountain  la  Val. 
Such  a  tiny,  aged,  broken  thing,  its  leaves  are  fairly 
gray  with  years  and  the  stem  is  lumped  and  seamed 
and  wenned,  yet  here  is  this  sightly,  this  luscious 
bloom.  Its  first  American  home  was  at  the  La  Val 
garden  at  Lamoine  on  the  Maine  coast,  northeast 
of  Mount  Desert.  Ancient  fruit  trees  and  Lom¬ 
bardy  poplars  mark  the  site  of  the  French  mansion 
which  was  the  home  of  Madame  la  Val,  a  French 
aristocrat,  a  widow  of  the  Revolution,  who  came 
with  her  daughter  and  thirty  citizens  to  found  a 
refuge  for  her  distressed  fellow-countrymen. 

The  story  of  this  house  and  the  proposed  refuge 
there  of  Marie  Antoinette  is  part  of  the  “  Affair  of 
the  Pinks.”  The  picture  of  the  beautiful  French 
queen  on  the  brig  Sally  of  Wiscasset,  Captain 
Clough,  is  to  me  a  curious  one.  The  story  has 
the  attendant  figures  of  Mirabeau,  Count  de  Fersen, 
Talleyrand,  Lafayette,  in  sharp  contrast  with  the 
Yankee  skipper  and  stately  Madame  Swan  of  Dor¬ 
chester,  and  fat  General  Knox.  The  cargo  of  rich 


352  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

goods  came  without  the  royal  owner  to  Squam 
Point.  I  have  seen  fans,  china,  silver,  which  were 
part  of  that  cargo.  In  my  sister’s  book,  Furniture 
of  the  Olden  Time ,  is  shown  a  splendid  semicircular 
sideboard,  with  knife-box,  great  silver  salver,  and 
urn,  now  owned  by  Hon.  John  P.  Baxter  of  Port¬ 
land,  Maine,  and  known  as  the  “  Marie  Antoinette 
Side  board.”  The  furniture  in  that  ship’s  cargo 
went  largely,  I  believe,  to  the  Swan  mansion  in 
Dorchester.  The  son  of  General  Swan  married  the 
daughter  of  General  Knox,  and  the  sideboard  was 
part  of  her  wedding  furnishings.  From  the  Knox 
mansion  it  came  to  Mr.  Baxter.  Truly  this  French 
Rose  blooms  full  of  wondrous  interest.  In  the 
writings  of  Carlyle,  ofSewall,  of  Gouverneur  Morris, 
of  Lafayette,  of  Madame  de  Stael,  of  Talleyrand,  do 
we  learn  of  the  “  Affair  of  the  Pinks.”  But  we 
would  wish  that  Morris  had  not  been  so  guarded  in 
his  diary  notes,  nor  Lafayette  so  silent  when  he 
visited  Madame  Swan  in  1824. 

We  had  in  our  garden  Bourbon  Roses,  Bor¬ 
deaux  Roses,  Burgundy  Roses,  and  Boursault  Roses, 
—  names  easily  confused  in  village  communities.  I 
found  in  one  town  the  Boursault  Rose  called  by 
every  one  the  Bourbon. 

The  Bourbon  Rose  was  much  esteemed,  and  its 
beautiful  late  blooms  in  the  autumn  were  all  the 
greater  delight  because  these  blooms  were  so  few. 
This  was  discovered  originally  on  the  Isle  of  Bour¬ 
bon  growing  in  a  hedge  of  Bengal  and  Damask 
Perpetual  Roses,  and  it  has  characteristics  of  both, 
yet  is  absolutely  a  distinct  variety  ;  some  folk  called 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


353 


our  beautiful  great  pink  Bourbon  Rose  what  I  fan¬ 
cied  in  childhood  was  spelled  Apple-een.  I  now 
know  it  was  Appoline,  a  Rose  introduced  here  in 
1848.  Our  Bordeaux  Rose  was  much  like  the 
Burgundy,  save  that  the  latter  was  smaller  and  dark 
red,  while  the  Bordeaux  was  pink.  I  have  found 
in  Redoute  a  perfect 
representation  of  this 
Bordeaux  Rose.  Re¬ 
doute  says  it  differs 
little  in  general  shape 
from,  and  often  in  rich 
earth  will  grow  as  large 
as,  the  Hundred-leaved 
Rose. 

I  have  given  on  page 
354  a  reproduction  ot 
Redoute’s  drawing  of 
the  Burgundy  Rose. 

I  cannot  give  his  beau¬ 
tiful  coloring,  alas! 
which  is  peculiarly 
happy  in  this  case,  giv¬ 
ing  the  exact  tint  of 
clear  redness.  We 
called  it  the  Little  Burgundy,  and  the  name  always 
seemed  to  me  so  appropriate  for  a  Rose  of  that 
color;  while  another  Burgundy  of  our  garden  — 
white  with  a  beautiful  pink  centre — should  have 
had  another  name.  It  did  have,  in  fact;  it  was 
the  Pomponia  ' Pudor ,  while  our  Little  Burgundy 
was  the  Pomponia  Burgundiaca.  I  he  white  Bur- 


Bourbon  Rose  from  Redoute. 


354  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

gundy  changed  color  very  decidedly  in  the  course 
of  its  bloom.  All  the  petals  were  pink  and  the 
edges  and  outside  petals  turned  white  as  they 

opened.  Redoute  gives 
the  color  of  the  Little 
Burgundy  as  a  “  rouge 
pourpre  fonce  ”  which  is 
a  very  good  descrip¬ 
tion.  He  says  it  should 
be  cut  immediately  after 
flowering ;  and  I  recall 
distinctly  that  we  always 
cut  the  withered  blooms. 

The  beautiful  Bengal 
or  China  Roses  I  never 
knew  in  our  garden  save 
in  one  form,  the  tiny 
Fairy  or  Pony  Rose. 
This  has  ever  been  to 
me  one  of  the  fully  sat¬ 
isfying  and  more  than 
satisfying  things  of  the 
old-time  garden.  Some 
ever  find  beauty  in  vastness;  they  prefer  ample  extent 
and  forms  in  all  things  ;  they  love  large,  full  Roses. 
I  have  ever  inclined  to  love  beauty  in  miniature,  finest 
lace  and  drawings,  bits  of  carving  in  coral  and  ivory, 
clusters  of  perfect  tiny  gems  rather  than  a  single  large 
one ;  so  I  love  small  roses.  I  should  love  a  minia¬ 
ture  Rose  garden  set  with  Pompon  Roses.  Even  as 
a  child  I  loved  especially  this  Pompon  form,  —  a 
Double  Buttercup,  a  Flowering  Almond  or  Double 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


355 


Cherry,  an  English  Daisy;  and  in  Roses  this  Fairy 
Rose,  and  the  Dwarf  Burgundy  Rose,  the  White 
Pet,  and  the  Banksias.  I  am  sensible  of  some 
attraction,  some  drawing,  toward  these  Fairy  Roses 
which  I  can  scarcely  explain.  They  are  not  appeal¬ 
ing  through  their  tiny  size  nor  have  they  any  cling¬ 
ing  frailty  ;  they 
are  compact,  vig¬ 
orous,  whole¬ 
some  ;  they  have 
such  a  confident 
and  cheerful  ex¬ 
pression;  they 
thereby  assume 
an  independence 
and  dignity  which 
comes  to  any  cre¬ 
ated  thing  of  any 
size  which  plays 
its  small  part  in 
life  to  perfection. 

I  note  with 
some  distress  that 
my  favorite  writer 
on  the  Rose  dis¬ 
misses  the  Fairy 
Rose  with  these 
curt  words, 

“  We  do  not  deem  them  of  value,  the  Bengals  are 
small  enough ;  ”  nor  does  he  place  the  Pompon 
Roses  on  his  lists.  This  is  not,  of  course,  through 
a  dislike  for  the  double  form  of  dowers,  which 


Fairy  Rose. 


356  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

many  feel  for  certain  species.  I  never  like  to  see 
a  flower  of  irregular  or  complex  outline  doubled  :  a 
Pea,  a  Columbine.  But  Roses,  Pinks,  and  Peonies 
have,  by  doubling  soft  petal  on  soft  petal,  secured 
clustered  beauty  instead  of  outlined  beauty  ;  as  have 
all  our  fruit  trees,  the  Peach,  Almond,  Cherry, 
Plum,  Crab-apple,  whose  exquisite  doubled  flower 
forms  have  all  the  charm  of  the  double  Rose.  One 
thing  can  be  said  in  favor  of  doubled  flowers  in 
general,  —  namely,  their  scent  is  doubled  with  their 
petals. 

There  is  one  Rose  of  our  grandmother’s  garden 
to  which  is  constantly  imputed  a  false  old  age. 
Especially  in  the  South,  where  it  grows  freely,  will 
great  age  be  assigned  to  the  Seven  Sisters  Rose.  I 
have  often  been  told  that  a  certain  Rose  of  this 
variety  was  planted  long  before  the  Revolutionary 
War;  or  that  it  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  or 
even  two  centuries  old.  You  must  never  question 
such  statements  ;  it  is  cruel  to  the  Rose  owner,  and 
besides  you  get  yourself  disliked  —  and  for  an  un¬ 
important  thing.  The  Seven  Sisters  Rose  was,  in 
reality,  brought  to  us  from  China  in  1821 — and 
that  is  old  enough  for  anything  or  anybody. 

The  Seven  Sisters  Rose  is  given  many  names.  It 
is  really  one  of  the  forms  of  the  Japanese  Rosa 
multiflora ,  and  was  known  as  the  Rosa  Roxburgheii 
and  finally  as  the  Rosa  Grevillei.  A  good  descrip¬ 
tion  of  it  is  found  in  Loudon’s  Arb.  et  Fruct.  Brit ., 
where  it  is  called  “  Rosa  multflore  Grevill <e  or  Seven 
Sisters  Rose.”  As  the  Grevillei  it  is  offered  in  our 
America  catalogues,  though  the  Rose  pedlers,  who 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


35  7 


have  sold  it  in  such  numbers,  always  call  it  the  Seven 
Sisters. 

I  find  that  the  Seven  Sisters  was  wonderfully 
praised  when  new  to  English  and  American  folk. 


Seven  Sisters  Rose. 


It  had  a  popularity  like  the  Crimson  Rambler. 
There  were  pink  and  white  and  purple-pink  varie¬ 
ties  ;  and  a  story  is  told  of  a  plant  at  the  Holdsworth 
Nursery  which  in  1826  covered  one  hundred  square 


358  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

feet,  had  over  one  hundred  corymbs  of  blossoms, 
and  some  of  the  corymbs  held  fifty  buds.  Some 
thought  that  the  variety  of  colors  in  the  buds  — 
seven  in  all  —  gave  it  its  name. 

In  1830  Lindley  wrote  of  it:  — 

“  The  Chinese  call  it  the  Seven  Sisters  Rose  because 
about  seven  flowers  open  at  the  same  time,  each  varying 
from  the  other  in  tint.” 

One  good  quality  of  this  Rose  is  that  the  blooms 
are  exceptionally  long-lasting,  and  they  are  a  neatly 
shaped  Rose;  white,  at  first  opening,  but  tingeing  with 
pink  after  a  few  days  ;  and  they  have  a  delicious  fra¬ 
grance, —  all  these  traits  make  them  charming  Roses 
for  vases.  It  is  never  recommended  by  Rosarians, 
for  it  is  held  to  be  so  free  a  grower  and  flowerer  that 
it  exhausts  itself,  seldom  living  but  a  few  years. 

A  gazel  or  ghazal  is  a  form  of  Persian  love  verse. 
Each  couplet  is,  in  a  sense,  a  perfect  poem  or  thought, 
but  there  should  be  thirteen  stanzas  in  all,  and  the 
first  and  second  lines  rhyme  with  the  fourth,  sixth, 
eighth,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  The  ghazal  is  in  senti¬ 
ment  something  like  the  Chinese  “  stop-short  ”  ;  the 
thought  of  the  couplet  should  be  carried  on  beyond 
the  expressed  words.  Hafiz,  the  Persian  poet  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  wrote  this  ghazal  upon  the  Hun¬ 
dred-leaved  Rose  :  — 

“Thou  fairest  Rose  of  all,  ah,  say 

For  whom  dost  thou  thy  hundred  leaves  display  ? 

To  what  blest  mortal  wilt  thou  own 
Such  charms  have  sprung  for  him  alone  ?  ’  ’ 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


359 


The  poems  of  Hafiz  might  well  be  entitled  Hun¬ 
dred-leaved  Roses,  for  his  pages  are  filled  with 
crowding  Rose-leaves  of  verse. 

The  Rose  of  a  Hundred  Leaves  is  thus  sung  by 
Moore  in  Lalla  Rookh  :  — 

“  The  joyous  time  —  when  pleasures  pour 
Profusely  round,  and  in  their  shower 
Hearts  open  like  the  season’s  Rose  — 

The  Floweret  of  a  Hundred  Leaves, 

Expanding  while  the  dew-fall  flows. 

And  every  leaf  its  balm  receives.” 

Although  the  Hundred-leaved  Rose  is  a  flower  of 
aristocratic  lineage,  it  is  most  countrified  in  bearing. 
It  has  a  simple  countenance,  almost  a  childish  look, 
and  its  pink  and  white  is  like  a  country  child  in 
good  health  ;  I  always  think  of  Shakespeare’s  phrase, 
“  a  shining  morning  face,”  when  I  look  at  it. 
There  is  in  this  Rose  much  of  “  the  freshness  of 
the  early  world  ”  ;  it  speaks  of  the  childhood  of 
humanity. 

The  York  and  Lancaster  Rose  bourgeoned  in 
every  garden  of  any  grandmother  of  English  lin¬ 
eage.  I  have  told  its  story  at  some  length  in  my 
chapter  upon  the  Rose  in  English  History,  and  so 
will  only  name  it  here  to  assure  it  of  its  ever  wel¬ 
come  presence  in  the  old-fashioned  garden. 

Moss  Roses  were  known  to  Gerarde  and  Parkin¬ 
son.  Ever  subject  to  that  most  trying  of  Rose 
scourges,  mildew,  they  would  have  been  crowded 
long  ago  from  our  gardens  had  it  not  been  for  a 
certain  tender  sentiment  they  awaken  in  every  one. 
Many  fanciful  verses  have  been  written  by  poets  of 


360  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


many  lands  to  give  a  sentimental  reason  for  the 
mossy  greenery  of  this  Rose.  The  moss  is  in  no 
sense  incongruous,  yet  it  has  an  element  of  the  un¬ 
expected.  To  many  it  gives  the  highest  point  of 


Hundred-leaved  Rose. 


charm  and  beauty  to  the  Rose.  I  can  scarcely  enter 
into  this  feeling ;  though  as  a  child  I  know  a  gift  of 
a  Moss  Rose  was  an  act  of  unspeakable  sentiment. 
Infinite  in  number  have  been  the  Moss  Roses  since 
Shakespeare’s  day,  but  still  is  the  Moss  Rose,  the 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses  361 

common  pink  Moss  Rose,  the  Gracilis ,  the  best  of 
all  its  kind. 

We  have  seen  the  few  Roses  of  Pliny’s  day  and 
even  of  the  times  of  the  War  of  the  Roses  ;  our  grand¬ 
mothers  had  more  to  choose  from,  but  after  all  they 
had  a  short  Rose-list.  Nor  had  they  Rose  gardens. 
Their  Roses  grew  among  other  plants.  Often  a 
single  bed  would  be  given  to  Roses,  particularly 
those  which  needed  special  treatment;  but  it  would 
be  a  small  bed.  Our  grandmothers’  gardens  never 
presented  the  expanse  of  tall  thickly  set  sticks  and 
scant  low  growing  foliage  too  often  seen  in  a  Rose 
garden,  and  suggesting  Hogarth’s  famous  drawing 
on  a  ticket  for  a  flower-show  of  a  monkey  watering 
a  row  of  leafless  sticks.  Why,  I  have  a  photograph 
of  George  Bancroft’s  Rose  garden  which  I  simply 
could  not  persuade  myself  to  display  in  this  book. 
I  looked  at  it  a  score  of  times  and  then  thrust  it  in 
a  remote  writing-desk ;  I  am  glad  now  I  did  not 
show  to  any  one  that  monstrous  stretch  of  well-kept 
lawn  in  the  foreground  with  two  long  beds  of  unvary¬ 
ing  tying  sticks  and  scarce  a  bit  of  foliage  or  bloom, 
standing  well  up  against  the  background  of  tall 
hedges.  For  1  saw  that  garden  when  I  was  a  child. 
I  recall  distinctly  that  I  wearied  over  the  long  stroll 
down  the  path,  and  the  interminable  and  eager  dis¬ 
cussion  over  certain  Rose  plants  which  seemed  to  me 
scarce  more  than  Hogarth’s  exhibition  sticks,  and 
not  worth  any  glance,  much  less  any  animated  talk. 
And  I  longed  to  go  home,  when  suddenly  we  came 
upon  the  Tea-Roses  —  the  finest  in  this  country, 
the  first  I  had  ever  seen  in  any  number.  I  have 


362  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

never  forgotten  them.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  had 
never  smelt  Tea-Roses  until  that  afternoon,  the 
beauty  and  scent  of  those  wonderful  Tea-Roses  is 
imprinted  forever  in  my  brain. 

In  some  vicinities  the  Tea-Roses  acclimated  them¬ 
selves  to  a  wonder.  Martha  McCulloch  Williams 
wrote  to  me  in  a  letter  of  one  Tea-Rose  —  known 
as  the  Triomphe  de  Luxembourg  —  in  her  early  Ten¬ 
nessee  home,  where  the  land  was  not  far  from  virgin 
soil,  and  where  thrips,  red  spider,  rose-chafer,  and 
lady-bug  were  entirely  unknown  :  — 

u  The  Luxembourg  is  the  Queen  of  Tea-Roses  to  my 
mind,  much  the  shape  of  the  Catherine  Mermet,  but  richer, 
and  of  finer  foliage,  and  colored  beyond  all  other  Roses,  not 
even  excepting  Gloire  de  Dijon.  It  is  hardy  in  Tennessee; 
here  in  New  York  I  dare  say  it  would  not  live  out.  Old 
bushes  give  the  best  flowers,  and  those  which  opened  on 
the  very  edge  of  the  forest  were  always  finest  of  all.  The 
heart  was  variable  but  generally  creamy  pink  with  golden 
suffusions.  The  outer  petals  run  between  deep  red  bronze 
and  copper-yellow.  It  was,  I  think,  one  of  the  earliest 
high-colored  Teas  perfected.  It  grew  rampantly,  and  had 
so  much  red  blood  that  the  leaves  and  flowers  at  first 
unfolding  were  almost  as  high-colored  as  the  flowers.  It 
is  my  Rose  of  Roses. 

One  great  question  must  be  ever  in  a  Rose  garden, 
—  whether  to  plant  only  Roses,  or  to  cover  the 
ground  with  some  low-blossoming  plant,  or  some 
greenery  ?  One  friend  has  planted  under  every 
Rose-bush  blue  Pansies.  Some  were  very  pale  blue, 
some  a  cheerful  dark  blue,  but  a  pure  sapphire  color 
prevailed ;  as  the  Roses  in  bloom  when  I  visited 


Rose  Garden  at  Mount  Vernon-on-the-Fotomac  ;  the  Home  of  George  Washington. 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


363 


this  garden  were  nearly  all  yellow  tinted  Tea-Roses, 
this  garden  seemed  to  me  in  perfect  taste.  My  sister 
has  the  best  “cover-ground”  I  know  in  the  first 
year’s  growth  of  Adlumia,  what  we  always  called 
Virgin’s  Bower.  It  is  as  graceful  as  Maiden  Hair 
Fern  and  crowds  her  garden. 

I  saw  a  Rose  garden  last  June  at  the  country  house 
of  a  friend,  —  a  house  which  had  been  the  homestead 
for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  when  the  question  of 
planting  had  been  solved  with  little  planning  or 
pondering.  It  was  simply  a  narrow  bed  around  the 
edge  of  the  semicircular  brick  wall  of  a  little  walled 
garden  or  recess  ;  on  it  were  trained  Seven  Sisters 
Roses,  and  all  the  varied  pinkness  of  Prairie  Roses. 
In  the  beds  blossomed  only  the  few  Roses  of  our 
grandmothers,  and  oh !  the  ineffable  fragrance ! 
Damask  Roses  !  Cabbage  Roses  !  Velvet  Roses  ! 
oh,  the  perfection  of  perfume  that  poured  from  their 
pink  petals  !  There  were  pretty  pillars  of  Madame 
Plantier  Roses  at  each  end  of  the  semicircular  bed, 
each  with  hundreds  of  snowy  blossoms ;  and  low- 
growing  Moss  Roses,  and  a  few  ancient  Tea-Roses 
which  would  fill  the  spaces  with  scant  bloom  later  in 
the  summer.  Ferns  were  planted  at  the  base  of  the 
brick  wall  among  the  Roses,  —  the  common  every¬ 
day  loveliness  of  New  England  Ferns.  Some  of 
these  had  fully  plumed  curves  of  rich  green  bursting 
open  ;  others  sent  up  great  quilled  ribs  of  curious 
form  with  no  leaf-promise  in  them,  and  with  only  a 
few  folded  blades  thrust  out  which  would  in  two  days 
open  into  exquisite  fronds.  Others  were  shyly  rolled 
up  in  cinnamon-colored  Catherine  wheels  and  pale 


364  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


brown  chrysalis  cases  like  some  dull  butterfly.  Lovely, 
most  lovely,  were  all  these  young  Ferns  among  the 
old  Roses.  An  old  stone  sun-dial  stood  on  the  grass 
at  what  was  the  centre  of  the  circle.  Fairy  Roses 
were  planted  around  it,  and  would  bloom  when  the 
other  Roses  were  gone.  This  garden  had  no  mag¬ 
nificent  single  blooms  such  as  our  modern  rosarians 
show  to  us,  and  some  of  the  old  bushes  were  sadly 
gray  and  broken  ;  but  there  was  the  lavish  profusion 
of  June  to  make  us  wholly  happy  while  it  lasted  — 
with  no  thought  for  the  future  months. 

Let  me  close  these  reminiscences  of  old-time 
Roses  with  these  verses  by  John  Russel  Hayes, 
which  seem  written  in  the  very  atmosphere  of  our 
grandmothers’  garden  :  — 

“O  stately  Roses,  yellow,  white,  and  red. 

As  Omar  loved  you,  so  we  love  to-day. 

Some  Roses  with  the  vanished  years  have  sped. 

And  some  our  mother’s  mothers  laid  away 
Among  their  bridal-gowns’  soft  silken  folds. 

Where  each  pale  petal  for  their  sons  a  precious  memory  holds. 

“And  some  we  find  among  the  yellowed  leaves 
Of  slender  albums,  once  the  parlor’s  pride. 

Where  faint-traced  Ivy  pattern  interweaves 
The  mottoes  over  which  the  maiden  sighed. 

O  faded  Roses,  did  they  match  your  red. 

Those  fair  young  cheeks  whose  color  long  ago  with  yours  has  fled  ? 

“  And  still  doth  balmy  June  bring  many  a  Rose 
To  crown  the  happy  garden’s  loveliness. 

Against  the  house  the  old  Sweet-brier  grows 
And  cheers  its  sadness  with  soft,  warm  caress, 

As  fragrant  yet  as  in  the  far-off  time 

When  that  old  mansion’s  fairest  mistress  taught  its  shoots  to  climb. 


Our  Grandmothers’  Roses 


365 


“  Enveloped  in  their  tufted  velvet  coats 

The  sweet,  poetical  Moss  Roses  dream  ; 

And  petal  after  petal  softly  floats 

From  where  the  Tea  Rose  spreads  her  fawn  and  cream,  — 
Like  fairy  barks  on  tides  of  air  they  flow. 

And  rove  adown  the  garden  silently  as  drifting  snow. 

“Near  that  old  Rose  named  from  its  hundred  leaves 
The  lovely  Bridal  Roses  sweetly  blush  ; 

The  climbing  Rose  across  the  trellis  weaves 
A  canopy  suffused  with  tender  flush  ; 

The  Damask  roses  swing  on  tiny  trees. 

And  here  the  Seven  Sisters  glow  like  floral  pleiades. 

“  But  sweeter  far  in  this  old  garden  close 

To  loiter  ’mid  the  lovely,  old-time  flowers. 

To  breathe  the  scent  of  Lavender  and  Rose, 

And  with  old  poets  pass  the  peaceful  hours. 

Old  gardens  and  old  poets,  —  happy  he 

Whose  quiet  summer  days  are  spent  much  in  such  sweet  com¬ 
pany  !  ” 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  ROSICRUCIANS 


“  The  Rosicrucians  are  a  people  I  must  bring  you  acquainted 
with.” 

—  Dedication  to  the  Rape  of  the  Lock.  Alexander  Pope,  1712. 


ISTORICAL  writing,  so  say 
both  Carlyle  and  Ruskin, 
is  made  delightful  through 
“disentangling  various  trace¬ 
able  small  threads  of  rela¬ 
tion,”  by  finding  interesting 
“  reciprocities  and  mutabili¬ 
ties,”  in  discovering  the  be¬ 
ginnings  of  things.  That 
gratification  I  have  had  in 
tracing  the  curious  and  intimate  relation  of  Rosi- 
crucianism  to  the  two  subjects  of  my  book,  sun-dials 
and  Roses  ;  of  tracing,  too,  these  threads  through 
winding  by-ways  to  America.  I  find  in  Carlyle’s 
masterly  searching  out  of  a  Rosicrucian  quack,  “  A 
Grand  Master  of  the  Egyptian  Mason  Lodge  of 
High  Science,  Spirit  Summoner,  Thaumaturgical 
Metallurgist,  Swindler,  and  Gold-Cook,”  words 
literally  true  of  my  own  searches  after  similar  “  Gold- 
Cooks  ”  ;  so  amusingly  like  in  that  I,  too,  have  been 

366 


The  Rosicrucians 


367 


unable  to  obtain  a  desired  book  “Which  all  Libra¬ 
rians  make  a  point  of  denying  that  they  possess.” 

The  Rosicrucians  as  a  sect  have  been  but  little 
known,  though  scores  of  ancient  and  mystical  books 
and  the  scattered  references  in  encyclopaedias  and 
histories  have  been  followed  within  a  few  years  with 
a  number  not  over-satisfactory  modern  books  upon 
their  doctrines.  Wild  and  absurd  as  were  their 
teachings,  they  left  a  distinct  trace  upon  the  poetical 
and  legendary  literature  of  Europe.  Their  beliefs 
became  public  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  a  time  when  all  Europe  was  seething  with 
religious  excitement,  when  our  own  country  was 
being  settled  through  these  religious  controversies. 
A  belief  in  the  baleful  possession  of  foul,  malignant 
spirits,  in  witches,  seemed  almost  universal,  whether 
these  were  the  spiteful  elves  of  superstitious  peasants 
or  the  plain  devils  of  the  pious  Puritans.  The  new 
sect  claimed  that  the  four  elements  are  inhabited  by 
good  spirits  which  they  called  sylphs,  gnomes,  nymphs, 
and  salamanders.  Pope  says  of  them  in  his  Dedica¬ 
tion  to  the  Rape  of  the  Lock  :  — 

“The  sylphs  whose  habitation  is  in  the  air  are  the  best- 
conditioned  creatures  imaginable  ;  for  they  say  any  mortal 
may  enjoy  the  most  intimate  familiarities  with  these  gentle 
spirits  upon  a  condition  very  easy  to  all  true  adepts  —  an 
inviolate  preservation  of  chastity.” 

The  name  Rosicrucian  was  first  heard  in  1604, 
though  it  is  said  that  the  sect  had  existed  since  the 
death  of  the  founder,  Christian  Rosencreutz,  in  1484. 
It  is,  however,  deemed  by  many  careful  students 


368  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

very  doubtful  whether  any  such  person  really  lived. 
When  it  was  known  that  this  brotherhood  could 
subsist  without  eating  or  drinking;  were  not  subject 
to  disease  themselves,  and  could  cure  it  in  others  by 
application  of  helpful  thought;  could  render  them¬ 
selves  invisible ;  could  work  miracles ;  and  above 
all  could  draw  gold  and  jewels  from  the  earth  by 
incantation,  it  created  great  excitement. 

It  was  asserted  that  Rosencreutz  learned  the  “  sub¬ 
lime  science  ”  in  the  East;  that  while  travelling  in 
Arabia  he  was  greeted  by  some  philosophers,  called 
by  name  at  first  sight,  and  claimed  by  them.  From 
them  he  learned  the  secret  of  prolonging  life.  It  is 
gravely  asserted  that  he  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  old,  and  then  died  solely  because  he  was 
tired  of  living.  There  were  five  simple  fundamental 
laws  to  which  the  Rosicrucians  subscribed:  1.  To 
heal  the  sick  gratuitously.  1.  To  wear  the  costume 
of  the  country  in  which  they  lived.  3.  To  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  Order  at  least  once  annually.  4.  To 
preserve  the  secret  a  hundred  years.  5.  When  think¬ 
ing  of  dying,  to  choose  a  successor.  These  laws 
have  been  observed  by  Rosicrucian  followers  to  the 
present  day.  A  few  years  ago  a  young  friend  of 
mine,  who  was  cheerfully  attending  balls  and  dinner¬ 
parties  in  blissful  ignorance  even  of  the  word  Rosi¬ 
crucian,  was  accosted  in  a  Parisian  drawing-room  by 
an  entire  stranger  who  abruptly  announced  that  he 
had  chosen  her  as  his  successor  in  the  Society  of  the 
Rosy  Cross,  and  would  call  upon  her  and  explain 
her  duties,  as  he  intended  soon  to  die.  She  promptly 
fled  from  him  as  from  a  madman  ;  and  after  meet- 


The  Rosicrucians 


369 


ing  him  a  second  time  at  a  reception,  where  he 
gazed  upon  her  without  speaking  in  such  an  offen¬ 
sively  mysterious  man¬ 
ner,  she  left  Paris 
indignantly,  simply 
frightened  away ;  and 
she  has  ever  since  had 
a  timid  dread  of  en¬ 
countering  her  Rosi¬ 
er  ucian  predecessor . 

There  came  a  time 
in  Germany  of  frantic 
speculation  and  investi¬ 
gation  on  all  sides  with 
but  little  tangible  re¬ 
sults,  for  there  was 
little  to  ascertain ;  ap¬ 
parently  the  true  Rosi¬ 
crucians  always  kept 
silent.  Of  course  much 
obloquy  came  to  them  ; 
some  simply  from  dis¬ 
appointed  curiosity. 

One  writer  settled  at 
The  Hague  after  being 
kicked  out  of  the  Soci¬ 
ety,  with  the  assurance 
that  he  would  be  mur¬ 
dered  if  he  revealed  their  secrets:  “Which  secrets,” 
he  writes,  “I  have  faithfully  kept,  for  the  same 
reason  that  women  keep  secrets  —  there  is  nothing 
to  tell.”  I  doubt  whether  any  one  living  can  very 


Dial-pillar  at  Wimborne  Minster. 
Dorsetshire. 


2  B 


370  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


lucidly  explain  and  define  the  Rosicrucian  teachings 
and  philosophy.  I  doubt  if  the  teachers  desired 

lucidity. 


in 


They  believed 
distinct  harmony  of  the 
process  of  nature  and 
the  doctrines  of  religion, 
and  so  used  chemical 
terms  to  express  religious 
truths  ;  they  talked  of 
the  signatures  of  things, 
of  the  influence  of  the 
stars,  of  magic,  of  the 
orders  of  friendly  spirits. 

Whether  the  Rosicru- 
cians  were  all  alchemists, 
or  whether  the  alchemists 
were  a  physical  branch 
of  the  Rosicrucians,  mat¬ 
ters  little.  The  art  and 
mystery  of  alchemy 
formed  an  important  part 
of  this  as  of  all  the  mys¬ 
tic  religions.  When 
scoffers  say  in  triumph 
that  the  Rosicrucians 
could  never  have  turned 
base  metal  into  gold, 
else  they  would  have  transformed  the  world  with 
their  wealth,  the  true  “  grooms  ”  answer  that  when 
they  had  acquired  the  power  of  transmutation  into 
gold,  these  adepts  had  ceased  to  desire  wealth. 


South  Dial  at  Wimborne  Minster, 
Dorsetshire. 


The  Rosicrucians 


371 


One  alchemist,  Sir  Edward  Kelley,  turned  a  brass 
warming-pan  into  silver,  and  gave  away  gold  wire 
rings  to  the  value  of  four  thousand  pounds  at  the 
marriage  of  a  maid-servant,  so  readily  could  he 
make  gold.  Sir  George  Ripley  gave  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  to  the  Knights  of  Malta  for  main¬ 
taining  the  war  against  the  Turks — gave  it,  so  it 
was  asserted,  because  he  had  found  the  philosopher’s 
stone  in  1470.  His  works  were  published  by  Ash- 
mole.  “Robert  the  Searcher,”  another  great  mathe¬ 
matician,  could  make  gold  “  as  easily  as  he  could 
make  salt  from  sea-water.” 

Out  of  all  the  absurdity  and  nonsense,  the  confu¬ 
sion  and  superstition,  of  the  reports  of  the  Rosicru¬ 
cians  which  I  have  read,  there  stands  out  therefrom 
something  which  attracts  me.  I  am  inclined  to  sus¬ 
pect  that  the  charm  comes  largely  from  the  beauty 
and  significance  of  the  Rosicrucian  emblem.  Old 
Thomas  Fuller  in  his  Worthies  wrote  thus  of  it :  — 

“Sure  I  am  that  a  Rose  is  the  sweetest  of  flowers  and  a 
cross  accounted  the  sacredest  of  forms  or  figures,  so  that 
much  of  eminency  must  be  imparted  in  their  composition.” 

This  simple  thought  must  be  shared  by  many: 
that  the  blending  of  two  such  significant  forms,  the 
Rose  and  the  Cross,  must  in  itself  confer  dignity  on 
the  order.  The  Rose  is  almost  a  universal  emblem. 
A  mystic  Rose  in  an  allegorical  garden  is  met  with  in 
religious  traditions  of  the  Orient;  there  is  a  Silver 
Rose  in  the  Garden  of  Heaven,  which  is  the  Brah¬ 
man  paradise.  Buddha  and  the  Hindoo  god  Indra 
both  suffered  for  robbing  a  paradisaical  garden  of  a 


372  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


flower.  The  garden  of  King  Midas,  who  turned  all 
to  gold  that  he  touched,  was  filled  with  Roses  of  sixty 
petals  ;  the  Peruvian  Eve  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 
sinned  not  for  plucking  an  apple  but  a  Rose ;  and 
the  Mexican  Eve  also  gathered  a  Rose.  Into  the 

beautiful  symbolic  his¬ 
tory  of  the  Cross  1  will 
not  enter.  It  is  a  hiero- 
gram  of  even  greater 
antiquity  than  the  Rose. 
All  “  persons  of  sensi¬ 
bility,”  as  the  old  novel- 
writers  said,  have  a 
curious  and  persistent 
interest  in  Rosicrucian- 
ism,  when  once  they 
know  of  it ;  or  at  least 
a  persistent  curiosity. 
Of  course  I  believe  that 
this  is  also  part  of  the 
mysterious  influence  of 
the  Rose,  —  an  influ¬ 
ence  which  exists, 
though,  like  all  magic, 

Sun-dial  at  Talbot,  near  Bourne-  inexplicable,  whether 
mouth,  England.  ,  .  r  .  ,  ,  r 

this  magic  be  that  or 
the  ancient  religious  mysteries  or  the  simple  charm 
of  beauty.  We  feel  this  magic  of  the  Rose  as  we 
are  sensible  of  the  quality  entitled  “fascination”  in 
our  friends;  the  old  Puritan,  Cotton  Mather,  wrote 
of  it,  “Of  Fascination  Man  hath  more  Comprehen¬ 
sion  than  Understanding.” 


The  Rosicrucians 


373 


A  strongly  backed  derivation  of  the  word  Rosi- 
crucian  is  Roed  and  Crux ,  cross,  which  I  wholly  reject 
through  sentiment,  and  because  all  the  beauty  of  the 
story  —  the  hundreds  of  allusions  to  the  Rose  — 
is  thereby  lost ;  the  emblematic  significance  of  the 
Rose  as  Silence  in  this  most  silent  of  societies,  too, 
cannot  be  given  up. 

Rosicrucianism  had  a  unique,  an  almost  comic 
history  in  France.  The  name  appeared  there  in 
1623,  through  a  short  and  mysterious  placard  which 
suddenly  was  in  every  street  in  Paris.  The  name 
Rosy  Cross  was  as  speedily  in  every  mouth.  These 
placards  stated  that  deputies  of  the  Rosy  Cross  Society 
Masters  were  in  the  city,  and  were  prepared  to  wel¬ 
come  and  teach  recruits,  but  no  place  was  given  where 
they  could  be  seen;  no  indication  of  theirwhereabouts. 
A  burning  curiosity  was  thus  awakened  in  volatile 
French  minds,  which  was  never  satisfied.  Frantic 
inquiries  in  public  and  private  through  all  channels 
failed  to  find  any  one  who  had  ever  seen  a  Rosicru- 
cian  or  the  teachers.  Yet  the  placards  were  con¬ 
stantly  renewed;  and  it  was  told  that  followers  flocked 
around  the  teachers  somewhere,  but  became  abso¬ 
lutely  silent  as  soon  as  they  became  Rosicrucians. 

Abuse  of  the  new  society  was  in  every  speaking 
mouth  ;  in  news-letters,  books,  pamphlets,  and  the 
pulpit  was  it  denounced.  The  most  widespread  was 
a  ridiculous  bogey  book,  entitled  Frightful  Compact 
between  the  Devil  and  the  so-called  Invisibles.  Soon 
the  abuse  became  a  crusade  of  baffled  and  shocked 
Roman  Catholics  against  an  ultra-Protestantism  which 
was  denounced  as  blasphemy  and  devil-worship.  But 


374  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

it  is  a  poor  battle  when  the  fighting  is  all  on  one  side, 
and  after  two  years  of  this  noisy  but  bootless  war- 


Market  Cross  with  Dials,  Woodstock,  England.  From  an  Old  Print. 

fare  the  Rosicrucian  placards  vanished  as  suddenly 
as  they  came,  and  the  name  even  was  forgotten  for 
a  century. 

The  Rosicrucian  emblems  have  ever  proved  so 
pleasing  to  the  public  eye,  and  the  beliefs  so  alluring 


The  Rosicrucians 


375 


to  the  mystery-loving  nature  of  many  people,  that 
they  have  been  often  revived  by  adventurers  and 
swindlers  as  a  romantic  surrounding  for  their  quack¬ 
ery  and  impostures.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of 
those  adventurers  was  that  quack  of  quacks,  Count 
Cagliostro. 

All  my  notions  of  Count  Cagliostro  and  the  Af¬ 
fair  of  the  Diamond  Necklace  are  founded  on  Carlyle’s 
brilliant  essays  which,  named  Flights ,  were  printed 
in  Fraser  s  Magazine  in  1833.  I  read  them  in  my 
early  childhood,  and  in  the  form  in  which  they  were 
furnished  to  me  they  form  a  curious  side  glimpse  upon 
the  subject  of  my  chapter.  These  three  Flights  were 
one  of  a  set  of  little  volumes;  the  others  being  Undine , 
a  tale  entitled  The  Holy  Hermit  in  three  volumes  ; 
and  Phantasmion ,  also  in  three  volumes.  This  last 
wonderful  book  was  by  Sara  Coleridge.  It  contains 
some  exquisite  turns  of  fancy,  but  I  never  knew  any 
one  who  had  read  it  save  myself.  These  books  all 
had  a  fine  binding,  but  a  greater  charm  was  in  the 
end-papers  which,  with  the  marbled  leaf-edges,  bore 
a  beautiful  and  singular  design;  the  colors  of  the 
prism  in  little  lines  formed  the  background,  with 
a  gold  Rose  pattern  stamped  upon  it,  —  an  heraldic 
Rose.  Not  a  vestige  of  these  end-papers  remain  in 
any  of  the  volumes,  the  leaf-edges  alone  tell  the 
story  of  the  pattern.  These  were  the  only  books 
I  ever  wantonly  misused  ;  these  lovely  end-papers  of 
fairy  colors  were  too  obviously  fit  for  garments  for 
paper  dolls  to  be  left  unmolested.  The  grouping 
of  these  books  was  so  significant,  and  the  symbolism 
of  the  end-papers  so  plain,  that  I  am  sure  they  had 


376  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

been  thus  bound  by  some  one  who  had,  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  them,  some  notion  of  mysticism,  perhaps 
of  Rosicrucianism. 

We  all  know  in  our  own  day,  in  the  winters  of  1892 
and  1893,  what  nonsense  there  was  in  Paris  over  a 
revival  of  interest  in  this  apparently  vanished  sect. 
Matinees  of  the  Rosy  Cross  proved  vastly  amusing 
to  the  volatile  Parisians.  The  high  priest  of  all  this 
was  a  man  prosaically  named  Josephin,  but  known 
to  Angels  and  his  followers  as  Sar  Peladan,  Grand 
Master  of  the  Rosy  +  Cross  of  the  Temple.  A 
description  of  the  meeting  of  the  faithful,  “  grooms  ” 
they  are  called,  does  not  seem  very  alluring  in  the  re¬ 
cital,  though  I  think  one  might  get  considerable  fun 
at  the  initiation,  when  asked  by  the  rigid  examiner  : 
“  Enumerate  thy  attractions  and  thy  repulsions.” 
Though  Sar  Peladan  was  no  end  of  a  farceur ,  he 
deemed  himself  the  ally  of  Ruskin,  Rossetti,  and 
Burne-Jones,  and  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  in¬ 
terest  and  annex  another  very  great  painter,  Puvis 
de  Chavannes,  whose  temperament,  as  shown  in  his 
work,  must  have  made  him  a  ready  listener;  still, 
he  did  not  linger  long  a  groom.  A  less-known 
but  charming  French  painter,  M.  Aime  Jean,  was 
also  a  convert,  and  contributed  to  the  Rosicrucian 
Salon  his  exquisite  Reverie.  M.  Khnopff  joined  the 
band  and  gave  his  painting  of  beauty  and  mystery, 
I  lock  my  Door  upon  Myself.  Besides  the  picture 
exhibition,  lecture  courses  were  given  —  dull,  of 
course  ;  and  plays  also.  One,  Le  Fils  des  Etolies ,  was 
called  a  wagncrie>  and  I  am  sure  I  know  not  what 
that  was.  Concerts,  too,  at  which  a  woman,  whose 


The  Rosicrucians 


3  77 


Queen  Eleanor's  Cross,  Northampton.  From  an  Old  Print,  1760. 

name  was  seriously  given  as  Mine.  Corrylange 
Mogenboom,  performed  what  were  termed  “  incan¬ 
tations  ”  on  the  piano. 


378  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

It  is  held  by  the  believers  in  Rosicrucianism  that 
Edward  I  was  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
society  in  1296;  that  the  degree  of  Rose  Croix  was 
conferred  on  him  by  Raymond  Lully  (the  friend  of 
John  Cremer,  Abbot  of  Westminster,  and  that 
delightful  old  English  alchemist,  Roger  Bacon). 
Edward  made  the  crusade  to  Palestine  and  brought 
back  to  England  with  him  Guido  dalla  Colonna  and 
this  same  Raymond  Lully,  who  coined  six  millions 
of  nobles  for  him,  as  I  have  recounted  at  length 
in  another  chapter.  Lully  was  a  contemporary  of 
Dante  and  of  Arnold  of  Villanova.  All  were  perse¬ 
cuted  exiles.  Lully  was  accused  of  heresy,  and  at 
last  took  recourse  in  the  language  of  conventional 
hypocrisy,  and,  as  did  Dante,  pretended  to  be  re¬ 
united  with  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Many  things  in  Edward’s  reign  can  be  twisted  to 
hint  of  Rosicrucianism  ;  for  instance,  over  the  door 
of  the  Chapter  House  at  York  Minster,  built  in  his 
reign,  is  this  couplet :  — 

‘  ‘  Ut  rosa  Jlos  jlorum 

Sic  est  domus  ista  domorum 

thus  Englished  and  rhymed  by  Thomas  Fuller:  — 

“Of  flowers  that  grow 

The  flower’s  the  Rose, 

All  houses  so 

This  house  out-goes.” 

This  house  is  eight-sided,  like  the  Buddhist  cross 
of  the  Templars. 

Another  act  of  King  Edward,  which  has  been 
claimed  as  indicative  of  his  knowledge  of  mysticism 


The  Rosicrucians 


379 


and  symbolism,  was  his  erection  of  the  wonderful 
series  of  funeral  crosses  to  the  memory  of  his  wife. 
Holinshed  writes :  — 

“  In  the  nineteenth  yeare  of  King  Edward,  Queen  Elia- 
nore,  King  Edward’s  wife,  died,  upon  Saint  Andrew’s  Even, 
at  Hirdibie  near  to  Lincoln.  In  everie  town  and  place 
where  the  corpse  rested  by  the  waie,  the  King  caused  a 
crosse  of  cunning  workmanship  to  be  erected  in  remem¬ 
brance  of  her.  Two  of  the  like  crosses  were  set  up  in  Lon¬ 
don  ;  the  one  at  West  cheape,  and  the  other  at  Charing.” 

Twelve  or  thirteen  of  these  splendid  crosses  were 
erected.  On  page  377  is  a  view  of  the  Northamp¬ 
ton  cross,  copied  from  an  old  print  of  the  year  1760. 
It  had  at  one  time  four  sun-dials  on  the  four  faces 
of  the  cross. 

The  cost  of  these  magnificent  crosses  cannot  be 
known,  as  so  many  persons  had  a  hand  thereat,  it 
being  held  both  a  sacred  and  a  loyal  duty.  In  the 
upper  arches  were  enclosed  four  statues  of  the  dead 
queen.  They  were  the  work  of  William  de  Ireland, 
“  imaginator  ”  —  or  sculptor. 

This  first  Edward  was  certainly  a  dominant  crea¬ 
ture  with  a  mind  out  of  the  common  run  of  kings 
of  those  times.  We  have  heard  much  of  him  dur¬ 
ing  these  English  coronation  days,  of  the  Scotch 
sacred  stone  with  its  oracular  gifts,  vulgarly  called 
Jacob’s  Pillow,  which  he  bore  oft'  incontinently  to 
England,  and  placed  in  the  Coronation  Chair  at 
Westminster  Abbey.  Its  Biblical  name  rests  upon 
the  tradition  that  this  very  block  of  sandstone  is  one 
on  which  Jacob  laid  his  head  on  that  memorable 


380  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

night  in  Bethel  when  he  saw  “angels  ascending  and 
descending.”  From  thence  it  came  to  Egypt,  then 
to  Spain,  and  then  to  Ireland,  where  it  was  known  as 
the  Stone  of  Destiny.  It  was  borrowed  for  a  Celtic 
coronation  and  never  returned.  Poor  Ireland’s  luck 
went  with  it.  A  succession  of  Scotch  kings  were 
crowned  seated  upon  it,  and  an  old  rhyme  runs  :  — 

“  Where’er  this  stone  is  placed,  the  Fates  decree 
The  Scottish  race  shall  there  the  sovereigns  be.” 

Prosaic  geologists  report  the  suspicious  fact  that  it 
is  made  of  a  sandstone  abundant  near  the  Scotch 
town  where  it  was  kept  so  long,  and  which  does  not 
exist  in  the  places  named  as  having  prior  claims  on 
it.  The  English  regard  it  with  superstitious  awe, 
yet  across  the  broad  seat  of  the  chair  is  carved  this 
inscription  in  sprawling  schoolboy  fashion,  “  Peter 
Abbott  slept  in  this  chair  July  4,  1801.”  It  is  said 
that  Peter  was  a  Westminster  schoolboy,  but  the 
date  and  name  sound  truly  American.  One  miracu¬ 
lous  power  of  this  Jacob’s  stone  was  that  it  groaned 
aloud  if  a  pretender  was  seated  upon  it ;  but  I  pre¬ 
sume  it  was  speechless  with  amazement  and  indigna¬ 
tion  at  naughty  Peter’s  deed. 

When  the  English  gave  up  Rosicrucianism,  they 
took  up  Free  Masonry;  the  English  kings  were  all 
interested  in  it;  Charles  II  is  said  to  have  been 
initiated  in  France.  A  dignified  follower  of  both 
sects  was  Elias  Ash  mole,  the  antiquary,  who  wrote 
on  the  philosopher’s  stone,  and  thus  became  one 
of  Carlyle’s  “  Gold-Cooks.”  As  founder  of  the 
Ashmolean  Museum,  this  antiquary  must  receive 


The  Rosicrucians 


3Sl 


some  credit  and  attention.  Feasts  of  astrologers 
were  held,  which  De  Quincey  asserts  started  this 
English  society  of  Free  Masons.  Oughtred,  the 
sun-dial  maker,  whose  interesting  personality  is 
described  in  another  chapter  of  this  book,  was  an¬ 
other  member.  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  who  also 
made  sun-dials, 
was  first  Grand 
Master.  The 
Rosicrucians  held 
that  all  things  visi¬ 
ble  and  invisible 
were  produced  by 
the  contention  of 
light  and  shade; 
and  a  sun-dial 
would  have  been 
as  appropriate  an 
emblem  as  a  Rose 
and  Cross  for 
these  English  di¬ 
allers  who  were 
so  many  of  them 
Rosicrucians. 

The  transition  from  Rosicrucianism  to  Free 
Masonry  was  very  easy;  I  shall  not  attempt  even 
to  indicate  it.  The  Fraternity  of  the  Rosy  Cross 
in  England  is  still  chosen  from  the  Masonic  body; 
the  same  terms  are  used  by  the  Masons  as  by  the 
older  society.  The  inquisitive  “  searcher  after  mys¬ 
teries  ”  may  gather  somewhat  of  the  resemblances, 
associations,  and  derivations  common  to  both  socie- 


382  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

ties  by  reading  De  Ouincey’s  indifferent  account 
of  the  Rosicrucians ;  and  a  much  more  accurate 
presentation,  Mr.  Waite’s  Real  History  of  the  Rosi¬ 
crucians ,  which  I  presume  is  as  fair  a  story  of 
this  greatest  of  all  mystic  societies  as  can  ever  be 
written. 

That  curious  figure  in  English  history,  Friar  Roger 
Bacon,  is  claimed  as  a  Rosicrucian  ;  as  the  greatest 
mind  of  the  thirteenth  century,  an  age  rich  in  great 
minds,  his  name  certainly  would  cast  honor  on  any 
class  or  society  or  sect.  His  manner  of  thought  and 
his  ideas  were  of  the  sixteenth  century  rather  than 
his  own,  hence  he  was  naturally  unappreciated  by  his 
contemporaries.  His  writings  were  so  vast  that  his 
biographer  said  it  would  be  easier  to  collect  the  leaves 
of  the  Sibyl  than  the  titles  even  of  Bacon’s  books. 
He  held,  as  did  Frankenstein  in  our  own  day,  that 
all  the  sciences  rest  on  mathematics,  even  theology  ; 
his  sketches  of  geography  and  astronomy  written  in 
this  connection  are  interesting  to  us  because  they 
were  the  text-books  used  by  Columbus. 

Bacon  certainly  described  a  method  of  construct¬ 
ing  a  telescope,  and  he  is  assigned  the  invention 
of  the  barometer;  he  knew  about  gunpowder  and 
burning-glasses.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  astrol¬ 
ogy,  in  the  doctrine  of  signatures,  the  philosopher’s 
stone ;  and  he  knew  that  the  circle  had  been  squared. 
He  made  some  curious  prophesies  held  to  apply  to 
steam-engines,  balloons,  etc.  I  have  been  inquisitive 
’enough  about  Friar  Bacon  to  examine  his  book,  The 
Cure  of  Old  Age ,  to  see  what  he  says  of  Roses,  his 
loved  Emblem,  and  I  find  he  barely  refers  to  them. 


The  Rosicrucians  383 

He  has  as  sapless  a  biography  as  ever  was  written. 
He  is  not  called  a  Rosicrucian,  but,  “  the  vulgar 
called  him  a  conjurer,  and  even  some  Learned  men, 


Sun-dial  at  Branksea  Castle,  Poole  Harbour,  England. 

likewise.”  In  the  book  are  some  wholesome  rules  of 
health  and  some  shocking  ones,  but  what  with  con¬ 
forming  everything  to  the  planets,  and  with  wisely 
quoting  of  the  classics,  Friar  Bacon  contrives  to  tell 
as  little  as  1  ever  knew  in  a  book  of  a  hundred  and 


384  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

fifty  pages.  One  Rose  reference,  of  a  Rose  which 
would  come  to  life  when  placed  in  water,  is  evi¬ 
dently  to  the  Rose  of  Jericho  with  which  impostor 
monks  often  deluded  “  poor  silly  women.” 

There  were  many  remarkable  old  fellows  in  Eng¬ 
land,  call  them  Rosicrucians,  cabalists,  alchemists, 
philosophers,  what  you  will,  who  cannot  be  set 
aside  as  ignorant  dupes  or  wilful  liars.  Perhaps  the 
most  important  after  Friar  Bacon  was  Dr.  Flood  or 
Fludd,  who  wrote  fifteen  or  twenty  great  books  and 
was  deemed  of  enough  importance  to  have  his  works 
formally  refuted  by  Kepler.  He  had  become  infat¬ 
uated  with  the  teachings  of  Paracelsus,  and  endeav¬ 
ored  to  form  on  them  a  philosophy  which  should 
prove  spiritual  and  physical  birth  identical, — a  notion 
which  has  proved  so  luring  to  scores  of  great  thinkers. 
He  was  a  great  mathematician  and  maker  of  mathe¬ 
matical  instruments,  sun-dials,  and  the  like,  and  he 
also  is  said  to  have  invented  the  barometer.  The 
magic  events  of  his  life  are  interesting  to  read  about, 
but  in  the  dry-as-dusts  which  I  have  ploughed 
through  in  emulation  of  Carlyle,  I  could  not  make 
myself  read  his  long  defences  of  Rosicrucianism. 
He  is  described  by  old  Fuller  in  his  Worthies , 
though  the  doctor  knew  but  little  of  what  he 
called  Rose-Crucians;  saying  with  his  usual  shrewd¬ 
ness,  “  Perchance  none  know  it  but  those  that  are 
of  it.”  He  wrote  somewhat  quizzically  of  Dr. 
Flood’s  learning  and  medical  skill :  — 

“  His  books  written  in  Latin  are  great,  many,  and  mysti¬ 
cal.  The  last  some  impute  to  his  Charity,  clouding  his 


The  Rosicrucians  385 

High  Matter  with  Dark  Language,  lest  otherwise  the  lustre 
thereof  should  dazzle  the  understanding  of  the  reader.  The 
same  phrases  he  used  to  his  patients.  And  seeing  that  Con¬ 
ceit  is  very  contributive  to  the  Well  working  of  Physic,  their 
Fancy  or  Faith  natural  was  much  advanced  by  his  elevated 
expressions.” 

I  think  it  would  interest  some  of  the  believers 
and  “healers”  of  “Christian  Science”  and  the 
“  Mind  Cure  ”  to-day  to  see  the  frequent  hints  of 
similar  beliefs  among  the  Rosicrucians.  Dr.  Flood 
healed  bv  what  he  called  a“  Faith  Natural,”  in  which 
it  was  asserted  that  the  influence  of  his  mind  added 
to  the  well-working  of  his  drugs.  A  total  cutting- 
off  of  dosing  would  have  been  too  startling  a  reform 
in  those  days  of  drugs  and  dosing.  He  held  that 
St.  Luke  was  his  “  physicall  and  theosophicall 
patron.”  Perhaps  a  diligent  reading  of  the  first 
books  of  the  New  Testament  with  a  thought  of  this 
discovery  in  view  may  show  why  Luke  was  chosen. 

I  have  just  had  a  pleasure  such  as  is  seldom 
given  to  folk  of  mature  years  who  have  ever  been 
greedy  readers,  undeterred  by  quality  or  quantity. 
Seldom  does  there  remain  unread  any  of  the  great 
pieces  of  literature;  but  to-night  I  have  read  a  new 
and  great  work,  Chaucer’s  Romaunt  of  the  Rose , 
not  literally  for  the  first  time,  for  I  recall  that  I 
worried  through  it  when  a  schoolgirl  in  my  study 
of  rhetoric,  gulping  it  down  in  “  required  readings,” 
as  blissfully  ignorant  of  its  meaning  as  if  it  were  old 
Sanscrit  instead  of  old  English. 

Oh,  how  fine  is  this  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  !  what 
a  picture  of  youth  and  chivalry  !  what  a  picture  of 


386  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


a  garden  !  So  plainly  worded,  so  fully  described, 
such  “  a  garden  that  I  love  ”  ;  as  frankly  disclosed 
in  every  detail  as  if  symbolism  had  never  been  in¬ 
vented  ;  and  yet  it  all  had  a  deep  meaning ;  for 


Lynn  Market  Cross,  Cheshire,  England. 


the  garden  was  but  a  setting  to  hold  the  Rose. 
And  the  significance  of  the  whole  allegory  was  :  — 

“  La  Rose  c' est  d'  amour  le  guerdon  gracieux." 

We  can  glance  into  the  magic  crystal  so  vividly 
described  in  the  Romaunt ,  and  see  every  detail  of 
the  exquisite  Rose  arbor,  the  Roser  with  its  varied 
inflorescence. 

The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  was  deemed  by  the 
Rosicrucians  the  allegorical  masterpiece  of  the  sect, 


The  Rosicrucians 


387 


as  it  was  one  of  the  perfect  specimens  of  Proven9al 
literature.  It  was  written  originally  about  1282,  to 
satirize  the  monks  ;  in  the  double  language  of  Love 
and  Alchemy,  it  is  a  complete  specimen  of  Hermetic 
philosophy. 

Throughout  Chaucer’s  works  are  many  veiled 
allusions  which  can  readily  be  twisted  to  alchemical 
meanings.  The  poet  John  Gower,  the  friend  of 
Chaucer,  is  another  who  is  claimed  as  a  Rosicrucian. 
H  is  monument  at  St.  Saviour’s,  Southwark,  shows 
him  crowned  with  Roses,  and  with  the  “  three 
virtues  ”  at  his  feet. 

A  Gnostic  branch,  headed  by  Lollard  with  his 
twelve  apostles,  united  with  the  followers  of  Wyclif, 
and  Chaucer  was  of  their  number,  and  left  England 
on  account  of  his  belief.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was 
also  claimed  as  a  Rosicrucian.  Spenser’s  allegorical 
poetry  naturally  is  claimed  by  the  searchers  after 
proofs  of  Rosicrucianism ;  they  interpret  Una  to 
mean  the  one  true  church  ;  the  Red  Cross  Knight 
can  be  either  the  Christian  Militant  or  the  Sacred 
Order  of  Templars. 

The  Rosicrucians  ingeniously  discovered  similar 
emblems  and  proofs  in  Dante’s  Divina  Commedia. 
One  of  the  high  prophets  wrote:  “The  Paradise 
consists  of  a  series  of  Kabbalistic  circles  divided  by 
a  Cross  like  Ezekiel’s  pentacle.  A  Rose  blossoms 
in  the  centre  of  this  Cross.”  It  was  held  that  in 
Dante  was  for  the  first  time  the  Rosy  Cross  of  the 
Rosicrucians  publicly  categorically  revealed. 

Dante’s  age  was  fertile  in  secret  societies  and  mys¬ 
tical  works.  If  vou  choose  to  examine  the  Diction- 


388  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


ary  of  Heresies  you  may  learn  how  many  forms  a 
hatred  of  Rome  could  take,  and  how  many  of  these 
forms  were  secret  societies ;  the  art  of  speaking 

secretly,  of  expressing  a 
thing  by  means  of  two 
meanings,  was  called 
grammar ;  the  word  is 
found  in  variant  forms, 
gram  ary,  glam  ary, 
glamer,  and  the  word 
glamour  is  therefrom. 

A  wonderful  exposi¬ 
tion  of  the  secret  mean¬ 
ings  of  the  works  of 
Petrarch,  Boccaccio,  and 
Dante,  of  their  relations 
to  mysticism,  is  found  in 
a  book  written  by  Ga¬ 
briel  Rossetti,  the  father 
of  the  great  artist  bearing 
the  same  name  with  the 
prenomen  Dante ;  this 
book  is  entitled  rather 
dryly  ^Disquisitions  on  the 
Anti  Papal  Spirit  which 
produced  the  Reforma¬ 
tion  :  Its  Secret  Influence 
in  the  Literature  of  Eu¬ 
rope  in  General ,  and  of  Europe  in  Particular.  It  is  a 
cultured  book,  a  truly  exquisite  piece  of  work,  full 
of  instructive  suggestion  and  erudite  information 
upon  these  poets,  and  well-termed  disquisitions. 


Sun-dial  on  Eastern  Gable  of 
Sherborne  Abbey. 


Pillar-dial  in  Market-place,  Carlisle,  England.  From  an  Old  Print 


The  Rosicrucians 


38  9 


A  distinct  impress  of  Rosicrucian  notions  is  found 
in  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  ;  indeed,  Pope  says  plainly 
that  he  composed  his  poem  “  on  a  new  and  odd 
foundation,  the  Rosicrucian  doctrine  of  spirits.” 
But  the  sylphs  and  gnomes  and  salamanders  of 
the  poets’  fanciful  brain  had  other  pursuits  and 
manners  than  those  of  the  Rosicrucian  philosophy. 
There  have  been  learned  papers  written  to  prove 
that  Shakespeare  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  sect 
and  felt  its  influence.  The  Tempest  was  written  about 
six  years  after  the  outburst  of  Rosicrucian  contro¬ 
versy  in  Germany  ;  but  any  thought  of  a  connection 
between  that  exquisite  creation  Ariel  and  the  com¬ 
paratively  clumsy  sylphs  of  the  Rosicrucians  is  un¬ 
worthy  any  notice  or  refutation.  Milton’s  masque 
of  Comus  is  no  less  zealously  claimed  for  the  German 
sylph-makers,  but  in  vain  ;  the  graceful  mythology 
of  Greece  stimulated  the  brain  of  the  poet.  The 
masques  of  the  times  of  James  I  and  Charles  I, 
however,  plainly  show  Rosicrucian  influences. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


THE  SUN-DIAL  OF  AHAZ 


“  When  Joshua  Fought  Against  his  Enemies’  Force 
Bright  Sol  and  Luna  sudden  stopt  Their  Course 
And  Jael’s  Female  Strength  had  Sis’ra  found  ; 

The  Stars  Assisted  in  his  Fatal  Wound, 

And  Hezekiah’s  Suit  for  Life  was  Done, 

Then  Ten  Degrees  Quite  Backward  Went  the  Sun.” 

—  Motto  on  Dial  at  The  Isle ,  Shrewsbury ,  England,  1745. 


HERE  lived  in  America,  in 
New  England,  in  Boston,  a 
much-loved  writer,  Dr.  Oli¬ 
ver  Wendell  Holmes,  who 
found  great  and  constant 
amusement  in  the  last  linger¬ 
ing  years  of  his  busy  life, 
and  I  believe  to  some  extent 
throughout  the  whole  of  that 
long  and  happy  life,  in  the 
noting  of  coincidences.  These  coincidences  are 
simply  one  of  Carlyle’s  “  reciprocities  and  muta¬ 
bilities,  slight  traceable  threads,”  to  which  I  refer  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  It  is  in  that  same  spirit  of 
pleasure  in  coincidences  that  I  have  noted  and  shall 
relate  in  this  chapter  the  place  and  relation  of  the 
sun-dial  and  the  Rose  in  a  very  interesting  series 

390 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


391 


of  historical  incidents  beginning  with  the  first  dial 
on  historical  record,  that  of  Judah  in  the  eighth  cen¬ 
tury  b.c.,  and  ending  on  the  peaceful  banks  of  the 
Wissahickon,  in  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania  in 
our  own  new  world. 

In  2  Kings  xx.  9 — 1 1 ,  we  read  of  this  first  dial:  — 

u  9.  And  Isaiah  said,  This  sign  shalt  thou  have  of  the 
Lord,  that  the  Lord  will  do  the  thing  that  he  hath  spoken  : 
shall  the  shadow  go  forward  ten  degrees,  or  go  back  ten 
degrees  ? 

u  10.  And  Hezekiah  answered:  It  is  a  light  thing  for 
a  shadow  to  go  down  ten  degrees  ;  nay,  but  let  the  shadow 
return  backward  ten  degrees. 

“  11.  And  Isaiah  the  prophet  cried  unto  the  Lord:  and 
he  brought  the  shadow  ten  degrees  backward,  by  which  it 
had  gone  down  in  the  dial  of  Ahaz.” 

This  miracle  is  told  with  equal  explicitness  in 
Isaiah  xxxviii.  8  :  — 

u  8.  Behold  I  will  bring  again  the  shadow  of  the  degrees 
which  is  gone  down  in  the  sun-dial  of  Ahaz,  ten  degrees 
backward.  So  the  sun  returned  ten  degrees  by  which 
degrees  it  was  gone  down.” 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  attention  which 
has  been  given  to  this  phenomenon  in  nature,  known 
as  the  greatest  miracle  of  Isaiah,  not  only  by  Bib¬ 
lical  expositors,  but  by  men  of  science  to  whom  a 
study  of  this  great  reversal  of  the  forces  of  nature 
was  more  attractive  and  more  profound  than  a  search 
into  the  more  personal  miracles  of  the  Bible.  I  have 
seen  many  infinitely  learned  demonstrations  in  ad¬ 
vanced  mathematics  to  try  to  prove  this  miracle  pos- 


392  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

sible  and  also  to  prove  it  impossible  ;  and  it  would  be 
amusing,  were  it  not  so  solemn,  to  read  the  elaborate 
explanations  and  reasons  given  for  the  possibility  of 
this  miracle. 

Ahaz,  eleventh  king  of  Judah,  ruled  over  his  land 
in  the  eighth  century  b.c.  Being  forced  in  war  by 
the  kings  of  Syria  and  Israel,  he  sought  alliance  with 
Tiglath-Pileser  II,  king  of  Assyria,  who  aided  him, 
but  in  return  enforced  a  heavy  tribute  and  imposed 
upon  him  the  religious  belief  of  the  Babylonish 
church.  The  Babylonians  were  the  first  people  who 
divided  time  by  any  mechanical  contrivance  ;  and 
the  rectification  of  the  Babylonian  calendar  had  been 
made  only  nineteen  years  before  the  accession  of 
Ahaz  ;  doubtless  the  invention  of  the  pole  and  of 
the  gnomon  were  both  connected  with  this  rectifica¬ 
tion.  Observation  chambers  for  astronomical  re¬ 
search  were  in  use  in  the  East  until  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  “  the  altars  at  the  top 
of  the  upper  chamber  of  Ahaz  ”  which  Josiah  pulled 
down  were  doubtless  those  observation  chambers, 
which  Ahaz  had  adopted  with  the  Babylonian 
religion  and  the  Babylonian  sun-dial. 

It  seems  a  long  step  from  Ahaz  and  Tiglath- 
Pileser  to  America  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  but  in 
that  long  interval  appear  before  us  a  band  of  actors 
to  play  their  parts  :  the  Rosicrucians.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  epochs  of  the  existence  of  that 
society  was  in  our  own  country  in  colonial  days.  It 
was  a  touching  one  as  well,  for  it  marked  the  decay 
and  extinction  of  the  ancient  band.  The  jaded 
excitement  seekers  of  Paris  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 


Horologium  Achaz. 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


393 


tury,  the  grotesque  grooms  of  Sar  Peladan,  are  not 
the  true  Rosicrucians.  It  is  unknown  to  most  of 
us  that  there  is  preserved  in  Philadelphia  a  unique 
relic  of  those  mystics,  the  most  interesting  memorial 
of  them  that  there  is  now  in  the  entire  world. 
This  relic  is  called  the  Horologium  Achaz,  the  Sun¬ 
dial  of  Ahaz  ;  in  it  is  performed  the  miracle  of  Isaiah, 
—  the  shadow  is  cast  backward  ten  degrees  by  the 
refraction  of  water. 

This  instrument  is  shown  facing  this  page.  It 
consists  of  two  finely  wrought  plates,  made  of  an 
alloy  chiefly  of  copper  and  silver;  the  smaller 
measures  five  and  three-quarters  inches  in  diameter, 
and  forms  the  base  or  standard  of  the  instrument. 
In  the  centre  is  a  tiny  compass  an  inch  in  diameter. 
There  are  two  encircling  bands  of  wrought  and 
chased  work,  representing  mythological  characters 
and  mythical  monsters;  the  under  part  of  this 
base  is  even  more  interesting  than  the  upper  por¬ 
tion.  It  is  depicted  on  page  39 5.  It  has  a  finely 
engraved  and  gilded  plate,  divided  into  four  outer 
and  one  middle  parts.  Two  of  these  are  graduated 
for  different  elevations,  and  two  contain  most  inter¬ 
esting  panels.  One  of  these  represents  the  king 
Ahaz  sick  in  bed,  while  the  prophet  Isaiah  points 
to  a  drawing  on  the  wall  of  the  sun  and  a  vertical 
sun-dial.  The  other  panel  apparently  figures  the 
twenty-first  verse  of  the  chapter  of  Isaiah  which  I 
have  just  quoted.  This  verse  reads:  — 

44  For  Isaiah  had  said,  Let  them  take  a  lump  of  figs  and 
lay  it  for  a  plaster  upon  the  boil,  and  he  shall  recover.” 


394  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  in  all  my  old 
herhals,  arts  of  simpling,  and  ancient  Family  Chir ur¬ 
ge  on  s  figs  are  recommended  precisely  as  in  Isaiah’s 
recipe,  and  for  the  same  affliction.  In  this  realistic 
panel  Ahaz  is  thrusting  out  his  aching  leg  to  be 
poulticed,  while  an  attendant  waits,  bearing,  appar¬ 
ently,  a  basket  of  figs.  The  fifth  and  central  panel 
bears  a  Latin  inscription,  which  may  be  translated 
thus  :  — 

“This  semicircular  shell  explains  the  miracle  of  the 
38th  chapter  of  Isaiah.  For  if  you  fill  it  to  the  brim  with 
water,  the  shadow  of  the  sun  is  borne  backward  ten  or 
twenty  degrees.  Moreover  it  indicates  any  common  hour 
of  the  day,  with  what  is  called  the  hours  of  the  planets.” 

The  upper  plate  is  the  sun-dial  proper  ;  it  is  basin¬ 
shaped,  ten  inches  in  diameter,  with  flat,  movable 
rim  an  inch  wide.  It  is  shown  on  page  396.  Upon 
the  upper  part  of  the  rim  are  engraved  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac  ;  underneath  is  this  inscription,  Cbristo- 
phorus  Schissler  Geometricus  ac  Astronomicus  Artifex 
August a  Vindelicorum  Faciebat  Anno  1578.  The 
central  plate  is  divided  into  the  different  planetary 
houses ;  it  is  about  one  and  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  in  depth.  Upon  the  rim  stands  a  brass  figure 
representing  an  astrologer,  with  extended  left  hand  to 
hold  the  gnomon,  which  is,  however,  now  missing. 

By  filling  this  shallow  basin  with  water  or  any 
transparent  liquid,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  the 
indicated  time  was  advanced  or  retarded  as  much  as 
the  angle  of  refraction  ;  thus  was  the  miracle  consum¬ 
mated.  This  instrument  was  used  doubtless  in  the 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


395 


calculating  of  nativities,  and  for  various  solar  obser¬ 
vations  ;  and  above  all  for  the  astrological  uses  which 
would  make  it  so  valuable  to  its  early  owners,  the 
Rosicrucians. 

In  the  name  of  the  maker,  Christopher  Schissler, 
we  have  a  clew  to  its  manufacture  and  history. 


Base  of  Horologium  Achaz. 


Schissler  was  a  great  mathematician  in  the  days 
when  to  be  that  meant  much  to  all  men.  He  called 
himself  a  geometric  and  astronomical  master  me¬ 
chanic,  and  he  was  an  apprenticed  brass  worker  by 
trade.  That  he  was  a  skilful  artificer,  we  need  only 


396  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

this  beautiful  and  ingenious  dial  to  show.  He  made 
likewise  a  fine  quadrant,  alleged  to  be  of  solid  gold, 
for  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford,  England.  T  his 


Basin  of  Horologium  Achaz. 

was  a  Rhenish  foot  square,  and  weighed  several 
pounds.  It  was  easy  to  use  gold  by  the  pound 
when  you  were  wise  as  to  the  philosopher’s  stone. 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


397 


I  am  sorry  to  spoil  this  tale  of  the  luxury  of  old- 
time  science  by  telling  that  the  custodian  at  the 
Bodleian  Library  assures  me  that  the  quadrant  is  only 
gilt-brass,  which  any  poor  simple  soul  might  employ 
For  his  instrument.  A  very  good  illustration  is 
shown  of  this  interesting  quadrant  on  page  399  of 
this  book,  from  a  full-size  photograph  taken  specially 
for  me  at  the  Bodleian  Library. 

This  instrument  is  wholly  unlike  any  quadrant  I 
have  ever  seen  ;  but  it  is  certainly  a  beautiful  exam¬ 
ple  of  the  engraver’s  art,  which,  however,  does  not 
show  in  the  reduced  illustration.  It  proves  Schissler 
what  he  is  termed  in  contemporary  biography,  —  a 
master  brass  worker.  I  have  also  given  in  enlarged 
form,  on  pages  401  and  403,  the  panel  of  engraving 
seen  at  the  base  of  the  quadrant ;  for  it  shows  so 
clearly  the  tools  and  belongings  of  a  sixteenth  century 
dialler  and  alchemist.  On  one  panel  is  seen,  partly 
concealed  by  a  curtain,  a  furnace ;  while  at  a  table 
sits  the  old  dialler  in  fur  cap  and  gown  with  furred 
sleeves.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  his  chair,  of  nearly 
four  centuries  ago  ;  that  it  has  claw  feet  and  legs,  and 
back  and  arms  shaped  much  like  the  well-made  office- 
chairs  of  our  own  day.  The  table,  too,  might  be 
a  modern  dining  table.  All  the  instruments  are  of 
interest,  but  I  see  among  them  no  Sun-dial  of 
Achaz.  In  the  second  panel  is  given  the  inscrip¬ 
tion,  which  is  the  same  as  that  upon  the  Horo¬ 
logium  Achaz,  and  a  younger  dialler  in  bombasted 
breeches  and  jerkin  and  a  smarter  hat.  The  in¬ 
strument  on  which  his  hands  rest  might  be,  from 
its  appearance,  a  modern  typewriter ;  it  may  be  a 


398  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

way  wiser.  Nor  can  I  tell  the  significance  of  the 
vase  of  coruscating  lines  of  light  which  appears 
in  both  designs.  These  two  dial-makers,  as  well 
as  Nicholas  Kratzer,  and  our  nineteenth  century 
horologier,  John  S.  Bailey,  whose  home  is  so  near 
the  settlement  of  “The  Woman  in  the  Wilder¬ 
ness,”  all  have  their  heads  closely  covered  while  at 
work. 

Schissler  made  much  ingenious  apparatus  and  in¬ 
teresting  automata  for  Emperor  Rudolphus  II  ;  and 
he  made  an  armillary  sphere  for  his  native  town, 
where  it  was  proudly  exhibited  for  many  years ;  but 
Mr.  Sachse,  in  his  fine  paper  upon  “The  Horolo¬ 
gium  Achaz,”  says  it  is  now  missing.  He  also 
made  the  sun-dials  on  the  Perlachthurm  at  Augs¬ 
burg,  a  great  tower  built  as  a  watch-tower,  but  now 
used  as  a  fire  lookout.  One  of  these  dial-faces 
can  be  plainly  seen  in  the  picture  on  page  405. 
Among  other  instruments  he  tried  his  hand,  too, 
at  a  way  wiser.  The  Emperor  Rudolphus  II  had  a 
curious  waywiser  or  odometer  which  is  attributed 
to  Schissler. 

Let  us  trace  the  journey  of  this  unique  sun-dial 
from  Schissler’s  workshop  hither.  When  the  Rosi- 
crucians  were  under  social  and  religious  proscription 
in  Germany,  they  thought  and  dreamed,  as  did 
enthusiasts  of  every  belief  at  that  day,  of  the  new 
world.  In  Pennsylvania  liberty  of  conscience  was 
promised  to  all  men,  and  thither  the  persecuted 
Mystics  turned  their  tired  feet.  Forty  was  the 
mystic  number  of  the  pilgrims  —  the  “  Chamber  of 
Perfection.”  Six  of  this  band  were  pastors  —  one 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


399 


was  Zimmerman,  and  he  owned  the  Horologium 
Achaz.  He  was  a  famous  astronomer,  a  brilliant 
creature,  and  he  knew,  as  did  all  these  adepts,  the 


Schissler’s  Quadrant ;  Bodleian  Library. 


knowledge  of  living  forever;  “nathless  he  died  ”  (as 
said  an  old  ballad).  Sadly  was  Johannes  Kelpius,  a 
young  man  but  twenty-four  years  old,  but  of  serious 
nature,  made  1VI agister  in  hi's  stead,  and  bravely 
they  embarked. 


400  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

On  June  23,  1696,  there  landed  at  Philadelphia 
the  ship  which  bore  these  forty  men,  some  in  pil¬ 
grim  garb,  some  in  student  dress,  all  in  “  Out-Land- 
ish  attire.”  By  tradition,  that  night,  St.  John’s  Eve, 
members  of  the  band  repaired  to  the  highlands 
northwest  of  the  city,  and  there  the  mystic  rites  of 
St.  John’s  Eve  were  first  performed  in  the  new 
world ;  the  blazing  boughs  were  cast  down  the 
hill,  as  had  been  done  since  heathen  days  in  the 
old  world,  and  as  was  still  done  till  our  own  day 
in  Pennsylvania.  Under  the  leadership  of  solemn 
Kelpius,  the  pilgrims  soon  were  settled  in  German¬ 
town,  and  the  society  known  as  “  The  Woman  in 
the  Wilderness  ”  was  established. 

The  brothers  soon  broke  from  their  vows  of 
celibacy  ;  it  was  hard  for  a  man  to  exist  as  a  colo¬ 
nist  without  a  wife.  Wives  were  entreated  to  come 
hither,  were  married  in  astounding  haste,  after  pre¬ 
posterous  courtships  ;  they  were  bought  from  ship¬ 
loads  brought  hither  from  England  and  France 
simply  to  become  wives  for  the  eager  emigrants. 
Widowers  joined  in  the  chase  with  bachelors  with 
most  undignified  celerity.  A  widower  of  a  twelve- 
month  was  far  rarer  than  one  who  married  in  six 
months  after  the  loss  of  his  partner.  The  Rosicru- 
cian  brothers  could  not  withstand  the  general  trend, 
and  soon  had  some  very  pretty  courtships  of  as 
much  worldly  romance  as  if  they  had  never  seen 
visions  and  formed  the  Chamber  of  Perfection. 

Kelpius  was  a  devout  student  of  the  Book  of 
Revelation  and  the  Morgen-Rothe  of  Jacob  Behmen. 
He  thought  the  Quakers  too  exclusive  as  to  their 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


401 


preachers,  and  had  no  sympathy  with  the  severity 
of  Calvin  and  Luther.  For  eleven  years  he  led 
his  little  band,  and  it  is  a  wonder  he  lived  so 
long,  for  he  fasted  and  prayed  in  a  cave  in  the 
earth,  suffering  “a  great  cold,”  which  finally  ended 
his  days.  He  believed  for  many  years  that  he 
would  be  translated,  as  was  Elijah,  but  at  the  last 
he  told  his  faithful  servant  that  that  happiness  was 
to  be  denied  him.  He  gave  this  follower  a  casket, 


Engraved  Band  on  Quadrant  of  Christopher  Schissler. 


in  which  was  his  magic  crystal,  and  told  him  to  cast 
it  in  Schuylkill.  It  exploded,  when  it  touched  the 
water,  with  flashes  like  lightning  and  rumbles  like 
thunder. 

This  crystal  was  the  stone  of  wisdom,  a  mystic 
souvenir  of  the  times  of  Van  Helmont,  Paracelsus, 
and  Agrippa,  with  which  Kelpius  had  seen  strange 
sights  and  had  known  strange  things.  It  lies  in 
the  Pennsylvanian  river,  waiting,  I  suppose,  a  resur¬ 
rection  by  some  new  and,  I  fear,  less  picturesque 
prophet. 

Kelpius  died  in  1704,  sitting,  so  it  is  told,  in  his 
little  garden,  surrounded  by  his  grieving  disciples, 
and  was  buried  in  that  garden.  It  is  pleasant  to 


402  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

know  that  memorial  tablets  to  him  and  to  the  other 
Mystics  are  being  placed  upon  the  spots  which  were 
their  homes  and  meeting-places. 

In  the  stories  of  the  civilization  of  the  new  world 
there  is  none  so  full  of  charm  as  that  of  Pennsvl- 
vania.  Penn’s  settlement  is  replete  with  pleasant 
detail  and  incident,  but  the  story  of  the  later  bands 
of  gentle  German  Christians  never  fails  to  touch  me. 
It  is  uplifting  in  its  faith  and  trust,  in  its  mutual 
kindliness,  the  charity  and  friendliness  of  each  with 
all  the  others.  Something  of  the  spirit  of  these 
colonists  has  entered  into  Whittier’s  peaceful  poem, 
The  Pennsylvania  Pilgrim.  Here  are  his  lines  on 
Kelpius  :  — 

“  Or  painful  Kelpius  from  his  hermit  den 
By  Wissahickon  —  maddest  of  good  men  — 

Dreamed  o’er  the  Chiliast  dreams  of  Petersen. 

“  Deep  in  the  woods,  where  the  small  river  slid 
Snake-like  in  shade,  the  Helmstadt  Mystic  hid. 

Weird  as  a  wizard  over  arts  forbid. 

“  Reading  the  books  of  Daniel  and  of  John, 

And  Behmen’s  Mornmg-Redness ,  through  the  Stone 
Of  Wisdom,  vouchsafed  to  his  eyes  alone. 

“  Whereby  he  read  what  man  ne’er  read  before, 

And  saw  the  visions  man  shall  see  no  more 
Till  the  great  angel,  striding  sea  and  shore 

“  Shall  bid  all  flesh  await,  on  land  or  ships. 

The  warning  Trump  of  the  Apocalypse 
Shattering  the  heavens  before  the  dread  eclipse.” 

Other  religious  enthusiasts  had  come  to  the  Wis¬ 
sahickon  before  the  Rosicrucians,  —  such  believers  as 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


403 


the  Labadists  and  Mennonites ;  and  shortly  after 
them  followed  quickly  Moravians,  Dunkers,  the 
Ephrata  Community  —  all  sturdy  Christians  and 
splendid  colonists,  great  housekeepers,  prodigious 
workers. 

Here  the  followers  of  the  Rosy  +  Cross  soon 
established  all  the  beloved  emblems  of  their  secret 
belief,  and  carried  out  all  its  customs.  They  had 
at  once,  the  very  first  year,  an  observatory  with  a 
chamber  like  that  of  Ahaz,  —  the  first  regular  obser¬ 
vatory  in  the  colonies,  and  possibly  the  first  in  North 


Inscription  on  Quadrant  of  Schissler. 


America,  —  and  an  ancient  telescope,  which  may  still 
be  seen  keeping  lonely  and  musing  company  with 
the  Horologium  Achaz  over  all  the  changes  it  has 
seen.  Through  this  they  watched  the  stars,  and 
thus  cast  the  wondrous  horoscopes  upon  which  they 
made  so  much  of  their  everyday  life  depend.  For 
they  and  their  children’s  children  all  carried  astrolog¬ 
ical  amulets,  —  small  sheets  of  paper  or  parchment 
inscribed  with  simple  horoscopes  and  astrological 
signs  ;  pilgrims’  tokens,  like  those  borne  by  the  pil¬ 
grims  and  crusaders  to  Jerusalem.  These  were 
worn  around  the  neck  of  new-born  babes,  and  even 


404  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

placed  in  the  bosom  of  the  dead.  These  amulets 
were  prepared  at  midnight  in  the  philosopher’s 
chamber,  and  assumed  on  St.  John’s  Eve.  They 
gathered  herbs  in  the  dark  of  the  moon,  and  dis¬ 
tilled  them  with  painful  care;  some  of  their  de¬ 
scendants  do  so  still.  They  ever  searched  for  the 
philosopher’s  stone,  and  distilled  and  boiled  and 
stewed  and  brayed  in  a  mortar  for  it  with  as  simple 
faith  as  they  brought  to  the  concoction  of  thorough- 
wort  and  tansy  teas.  Some  of  the  mystic  signets 
of  these  simple  saints  still  are  in  existence,  —  bits 
of  thin  metal,  engraved  with  Rosicrucian  symbols. 
These  signets  cured  disease  in  man  or  beast,  being 
pressed  on  the  affected  spots,  and  chanted  and  in- 
canted  over. 

Another  curious  custom  which  they  had  was 
the  distribution  of  printed  cards  bearing  a  moral 
couplet  or  a  verse  from  the  Bible.  Two  or  three 
hundred  of  these  cards  were  kept  in  little  boxes 
and  carried  by  the  faithful.  Whenever  an  oath 
or  ill  word  was  uttered  in  the  presence  of  the  cas¬ 
ket-bearer  he  offered  one  of  these  slips  of  paper, 
chosen  at  random,  to  the  offender.  If  he  were  a 
brother,  he  read  it  carefully  and  placed  it  on  his 
tongue.  From  this  arose  the  grotesque  notion  that 
the  Pietists  ate  their  religion.  This  custom  con¬ 
tinued  for  many  years  among  the  Pennsylvania 
Germans ;  and  these  “  moral  cards  ”  were  printed 
on  their  presses. 

They  all  looked  to  the  millennium,  and  some  vast 
sign  was  to  be  given  on  the  opening  day  of  the  new 
century  after  their  coming  ;  but  they  fancied  the  year 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


405 


1700  began  the  cen¬ 
tury,  and  disappoint¬ 
ment  was  their  lot. 
Here  in  our  new  world 
the  mysteries,  rites, 
and  customs  of  what 
we  now  term  occult 
philosophy  and  eso¬ 
teric  theosophy  were 
practised  and  carried 
on  by  these  German 
pilgrims.  It  forms  to 
me  a  strange  and  in¬ 
teresting  picture,  the 
most  romantic  episode 
in  the  planting  and 
growth  of  our  colo¬ 
nies  ;  I  love  to  picture 
its  details.  7  he  curi¬ 
ous  reader  may  learn 
in  full  of  the  daily 
manners  and  religious 
customs  of  these  vari¬ 
ous  German  sects 
from  two  massive 
books  of  Mr.  Julius 
K.  Sachse  —  namely, 
rrbe  German  Pietists 
in  Pennsylvania ,  and 
i  be  German  Sectaries 
in  Pennsylvania ,  for  in 
these  two  compre- 


Perlachthurm,  Augsburg. 


40 6  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

hensive  volumes  are  gathered  most  ample  details. 
I  like  better  myself,  however,  to  trace  their  story 
in  various  old  books,  in  copies  of  old  manuscripts, 
in  articles  of  their  household  and  domestic  use  pre¬ 
served  in  the  various  collections  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  above  all  in  visits  to  the  little  towns  which 
formed  their  homes,  where  still  lingers  much  evi¬ 
dence  and  exist  many  of  the  customs  of  pilgrim 
days.  In  Bethlehem  and  Zoar  and  Ephrata  the 
imaginative  visitor  still  may  meet  the  spirit  of 
Conrad  Beissel  or  Kelpius  or  Zinzendorf  in  the 
old  streets. 

The  last  magister  of  this  faithful  band  was  Conrad 
Matthai  ;  like  the  prophets  of  old,  he  came  with  san¬ 
dalled  feet  and  long  cloak,  and  bearing  scrip  and 
staff.  In  his  hat  he  wore  a  shell  like  a  holy  pilgrim, 
in  this  case  one  of  the  common  shells  of  that  vicinity. 
In  Erasmus  one  says  to  the  Pilgrim:  — 

u  What  kind  of  apparel  hast  thou  on  ?  Thou  art  beset 
with  semicircular  shells,  art  covered  on  every  side  with 
images  of  tin  and  lead,  twined  with  straw  chains  and  thy 
arm  hath  a  bracelet  of  beads.” 

One  faithful  follower  survived  Matthai  —  Dr. 
Christopher  Witt,  “  a  very  pleasant  facetious  and 
plaint  old  man  ”  who  lived  to  be  ninety.  A  man  after 
my  own  heart,  fond  of  books,  fond  of  music,  fond  of 
flowers,  fond  of  wonders  and  symbols  and  emblems 
and  mystic  things.  When  he  died  he  left  “  an  old 
Virginal,”  on  which  he  had  been  wont  to  play ;  “  a 
Lot  of  Old  Brass  Things,”  one  of  these  being  per¬ 
haps  none  other  than  the  Horologium  Achaz  ;  “Be- 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz  407 

longings  Apothecaries  ways  and  Belongings  Doctors 
ways,”  and  an  old  “Chrinter”  whose  significance  I 
cannot  decipher.  He  founded  a  Botanic  Garden 
twenty  years  before  that  of  his  friend  Bartram,  in 
whose  correspondence  with  the  English  botanist  Col- 
linson  his  name  often  appears.  Shrewd  old  Quakers 
these  were ;  much  of  human  life  is  in  their  letters. 
They  all  exchanged  slips  and  seeds  and  flowers,  like 
any  three  old  maids  in  a  country  village,  and  had 
some  jealousies  and  slyness  over  their  flowers,  too. 
Collinson  wrote  of  Witt  in  one  flower  exchange,  “  the 
old  gentleman  has  been  too  cunning  for  thee.”  A 
pretty  picture  is  shown  in  one  of  Bartram’s  letters, 
of  the  twain,  Bartram  and  Dr.  Witt,  walking  happily 
in  the  garden  ;  and  then  talking  divinity  within  the 
house  to  some  disagreement ;  and  then  going  out 
again  among  the  flowers  and  talking  botany  to  make 
friends  again.  Bartram  says  :  — 

w  This  afforded  me  a  convenient  opportunity  of  asking 
whether  he  observed  any  kind  of  wild  Rose  in  this  Country 
that  was  double.  He  said  he  could  not  remember  that  he 
ever  had.  When  upon  the  topic  of  astrology,  magic  and 
mystic  divinity,  I  am  apt  to  be  a  little  troublesome  by  in¬ 
quiring  into  the  foundation  and  reasonableness  of  these 
notions,  which  thee  knows,  will  not  bear  to  be  searched 
into,  though  I  handle  these  fancies  with  him  with  more 
tenderness  than  I  should  with  many  others  so  supersti- 
tiously  inclined,  because  I  respect  the  man.” 

Blindness  came  to  him  in  his  last  years.  Bartram 
took  him  through  his  garden  and  showed  him  the 
gayest  new  carnations,  but  he  “  couldn’t  tell  a  leaf 


408  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

from  a  flower.”  “  A  well-spent  life  will  give  him 
consolation,  and  illuminate  his  darkness,”  piously 
wrote  the  English  botanist. 

The  scientific  belongings  of  the  last  of  the  Rosi- 
crucians  came  into  the  keeping  of  a  new  and  strong 
light  in  science,  albeit  not  at  all  a  mystic,  Dr.  Ben¬ 
jamin  Franklin.  His  love  for  sun-dials  is  shown 
in  his  introduction  of  it  as  a  symbol  in  the  first  coinage 
of  the  new  nation.  I  have  also  wondered  whether 
the  waywiser  which  the  doctor  had  attached  to  his 
chaise,  by  which,  when  he  was  postmaster,  he  set 
all  the  mile-stones  on  the  post-roads — I  wonder 
whether  this  American  waywiser  was  of  the  “  Old 
Brass  Things  ”  and  had  been  made  by  Christopher 
Schissler.  It  was  natural  that  Dr.  Franklin’s  pet, 
the  American  Philosophical  Association,  should  have 
the  antiquated  treasures  of  the  Rosicrucians,  among 
them  the  Horologium  Achaz.  A  good  custodian 
has  the  society  proved  itself. 

War  soon  filled  the  land,  and  the  Revolutionary 
War  ended  the  existence  of  this  Pietist  sect,  but  the 
Rosicrucian  teachings  of  Kelpius  had  been  carried 
from  the  banks  of  the  Wissahickon  to  those  of  the 
Cocalico  at  Ephrata.  Conrad  Beissel  had  been 
initiated  into  a  Rosicrucian  chapter  at  Heidelberg, 
and  having  thereby  lost  employment  he,  with  several 
brother  pilgrims,  crossed  the  ocean  in  1720  to  join 
Kelpius  in  his  tabernacle.  They  found  the  taber¬ 
nacle  deserted,  Kelpius  dead,  and  his  followers 
scattered  and,  alas,  nearly  all  married.  Seetig  and 
Matthai  and  Witt  remained.  At  the  advice  of 
Matthai,  Beissel  then  helped  to  found  the  Ephrata 


The  Sun-dial  of  Ahaz 


409 


Community. 

On  Christmas 
Day,  1723,  fires 
were  lighted  on 
the  hills  and 
twenty-three 
members  were 
admitted,  six  in 
midwinter  be¬ 
ing  baptized  by 
immersion. 

Love-feasts  and 
foo  t-washings 
soon  began; 
these  are  still 
part  of  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  some 
of  the  Ephrata 
and  other  of 
the  German 
sectaries.  The 
love-feast  con¬ 
sists  of  coffee 
and  unleavened 
bread,  or  some¬ 
times  lamb 
soup,  to  the 
communicants  ; 
while  bread  and 
apple-butter  is 
served  to  visi¬ 
tors.  Under  Sun-dial,  Church  of  Our  Lady,  Munich. 


410  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Beissel  the  sect  grew  wondrously,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  earliest  patrons  of  Franklin’s  printing-press  and 
had  strong  longings  to  have  Franklin  join  the  com¬ 
munity.  But  I  can  imagine  nothing  less  to  Frank¬ 
lin’s  taste  and  nature.  As  a  Christian  evangelist 
Beissel  curiously  combined  mystic  theosophy  with 
his  teachings  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  intensely  allur¬ 
ing.  Some  of  his  disciples  carried  Rosicrucianism 
further  than  he  approved ;  for  some  returned  too 
close  to  nature,  clinging  to  the  teaching  that  the 
Oak  furnished  the  first  food  for  mankind,  giving 
acorns  for  food  and  honey-dew  for  drink,  while  the 
rustling  of  the  branches  plainly  indicated  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  God.  They  ate  only  bread  and  porridge 
made  of  acorn  flour,  deemed  reasonably  palatable 
by  hungry  brothers.  When  roasted  like  coffee, 
acorns  made  an  excellent  drink,  and  a  sour  mash 
of  acorns  afforded  whiskey,  since  even  saints  must 
have  that  comfort. 

Substantial  houses  were  built  at  Ephrata, — 
“  Brother  Houses”  and  “Sister  Houses”;  a  pecu¬ 
liarity  of  them  was  their  construction  without  iron. 
Wooden  pins  were  used  everywhere  instead  of  nails. 
In  cabalistic  and  Rosicrucian  teachings  iron  was 
the  product  of  the  powers  of  darkness.  In  the 
love-feasts  platters  of  wood  were  used,  and  wooden 
candlesticks  were  made  for  the  religious  meetings ; 
the  communion  vessels  still  in  use  were  of  wood 
turned  with  bronze  tools  ;  the  linen  altar-cloth, 
even  to  the  present  day,  after  being  washed,  is 
smoothed  with  the  wooden  flat-irons  made  and  used 
of  old. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


RURAL  SAINTS  AND  PROPHETS 


“  Die  when  I  may,  I  always  want  it  said  of  me  by  those  who  know 
me  best,  that  I  always  plucked  a  thistle,  and  planted  a  flower  where 
I  thought  a  flower  would  grow.” 

—  Abraham  Lincoln. 

N  New  England  fifty  years 
ago  one  condition  of  rural 
life  was  universal ;  and  to¬ 
day  it  exists  to  a  consider¬ 
able  extent.  This  was  the 
personal  reserve  and  repres¬ 
sion  of  feeling  of  social  and 
domestic  life.  Not  only  did 
this  reserve  exist  between 
acquaintances  and  friends 
(where  it  had  a  vast  and  on  the  whole  a  good  in¬ 
fluence),  but  it  permitted  no  public  and  scarcely 
any  private  expression  of  affection  or  warm  interest 
between  lovers,  were  they  married  or  affianced. 
Man  and  wife,  whose  affection  was  never  doubted 
in  a  community  where  all  bore  the  same  reserve, 
moved  throughout  life  in  different  though  precisely 
similar  circles  of  revolution  —  as  do  double  stars. 
They  were  never,  even  when  shaken  by  sorrow 
or  startled  by  the  unexpected,  brought  into  abso- 


412  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

lute  union  or  moved  into  any  open  familiarity  or 
tenderness.  Their  daily  speech  had  a  certain  re¬ 
moteness  ;  they  referred  to  each  other  vaguely,  even 
when  talking  among  kinsfolk  ;  the  wife  called  her 
husband  “  he,”  or  “  your  father,”  or  “  Mr.  Stone.” 
Sad  it  was  when  a  great  sorrow  like  the  death  of  a 
child  found  the  twain  still  wearing  a  mask  of  reserve 
which  had  been  fastened  on  their  foreheads  by  cen¬ 
turies  of  Puritanism.  It  seems  somewhat  anomalous 
that  this  should  have  been  the  result  of  Puritanism, 
since  to  the  early  Puritans  we  certainly  owe  the  first 
true  establishment  of  the  English  home  and  home 
life.  All  the  sources  of  history,  the  letters  and 
journals  of  that  day,  prove  this  true ;  and  those 
first  Puritans  displayed  a  tenderness  which  had 
wholly  vanished  —  or  rather  the  display  of  it  had 
vanished  —  two  centuries  later.  Read  the  exquisite 
love-letters  of  John  Winthrop  to  his  wife  —  his  ex¬ 
pressions  to  others  about  her.  Read  of  his  passion 
of  tears  at  a  public  reception  when  attempting  to 
speak  of  leaving  his  home  and  family  to  cross  the 
seas.  John  Eliot,  Roger  Williams,  and  the  Mathers 
were  as  tender  as  true.  In  Roger  Williams’s  letters 
are  some  exquisite  passages  of  prose  like  purest 
poetry  telling  of  his  affection  for  his  friends. 

Betrothed  folk  in  later  New  England  concealed 
their  betrothal  as  long  as  possible ;  and  they  were 
never  betrayed  in  public  into  any  of  the  affectionate 
expressions  which  might  be  expected  —  and  forgiven 
them.  Nor  was  applauded  the  exchange  of  frequent 
gifts  between  lovers  save  in  a  few  lines  of  offer¬ 
ing,  such  as  delicate  food,  fruit,  nuts,  raisins,  etc.,  in 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets  413 

the  days  when  these  took  the  place  of  sweetmeats. 
Flowers  have  ever  been  a  true  lover’s  gift ;  and  any 
lover  could  show  his  affection  for  his  sweetheart 
very  properly  by  assisting  her  in  the  care  of  her 
flowers,  as  well  as  in  gifts  of  flowers.  1  know  one 
case  where  the  working  together  in  her  garden  was 
the  only  expression  of  mutual  interest  indulged  in 
for  twenty  years  by  this  twain  who,  nevertheless, 
loved  each  other  long  and  deeply. 

H  e  was  the  son  of  the  Presbyterian  minister  of 
the  town.  She  was  the  child  of  the  minister’s  best 
friend  in  his  youth.  This  friend  was  a  dazed,  be¬ 
wildered  soul,  of  some  great  mental  gifts  and  others 
of  equal  weakness,  such  as  the  extreme  religious 
atmosphere  of  New  England  often  evolved.  After 
a  childhood  and  early  manhood  torn  with  alterna¬ 
tions  between  deep  despair  and  intense  religious  ex¬ 
altation,  he  finally  settled  into  open  infidelity.  He 
had  studied,  too,  to  be  a  minister,  and  had  broken 
down  his  health  and  his  hope  and  his  trust  by  that 
fierce  struggle  for  an  education  of  one  who  “  works 
his  way”  through  a  New  England  college.  He 
had  had  an  interval  of  renewed  hope  and  confi¬ 
dence  in  God,  in  which  interval  he  married  ;  but  the 
death  of  his  wife  at  the  birth  of  Mercv  once  more 

J 

unsettled  his  faith,  and  left  him  the  prey  of  every 
fanatic  influence  in  book  or  human  form  which 
reached  the  little  village  which  was  his  home.  His 
crowning  offence  was  that  he  was  moved  often  to 
attempt  to  argue  and  confute  the  faith  of  others. 
Parson  Holmes  treated  this  vagary  with  silent  con¬ 
tempt;  but  the  infidel  always  could  catch  a  deacon 


414  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

with  his  bait ;  and  generally  the  deacon  was  sadly 
worsted,  for  he  was  not  as  well  fortified  for  the 
controversy  as  the  “  impious  Bible  student.”  The 
parson  would  have  been  a  stouter  adversary,  but  he 


Sun-dial  at  Wroxton  Abbey. 

scorned  to  fight,  and  in  that  was  wise.  There  had 
been  another  and  a  worse  thing  which  darkened  this 
man’s  life,  —  he  had  once  attempted  suicide.  It 
mattered  little  in  the  judgment  of  the  villagers  that 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets  415 

he  had  been  very  ill  with  a  raging  fever,  and  when 
he  ran  from  his  bed  and  jumped  from  the  open  win¬ 
dow  that  it  might  have  been  in  an  access  of  delirium. 
He  seemed  sane  enough  when  they  picked  him  up 
after  his  terrible  fall,  and  sorry  only  at  being  unsuc¬ 
cessful.  This  was  a  finishing  climax  and  a  cause  for 
unending  odium  in  a  community  that  still  had  a  law 
authorizing  the  burial  of  a  successful  suicide  at  the 
cross-roads,  with  a  stake  driven  in  his  heart. 

We  can  scarcely  enter  into  the  profound  abhor¬ 
rence  of  the  minister  and  his  wife,  even  at  the 
thought  that  the  son  whose  life  they  had  conse¬ 
crated  to  God  could  in  his  maturity  wish  to  give 
that  life  to  the  daughter  of  an  unbeliever,  and  an 
aggressive,  loud-voiced  unbeliever,  too,  such  a  one 
as  a  century  earlier  would  have  been  stood  on  Sab¬ 
bath  days  upon  a  block  or  in  a  cage,  and  labelled 
large  that  all  might  read  and  abhor,  “A  WANTON 
GOSPELLER,”  or  perhaps  even  whipped  with 
many  stripes.  Their  only  reason  for  gratitude  was 
that  he  had  never  spoken  to  the  girl  of  love  —  but 
she  knew.  He  had  walked  home  with  her  from  sing¬ 
ing-school  ;  and  they  had  gone  Maying  together, 
driven  out  to  gather  the  sweet  Trailing  Arbutus, 
and  that  was  an  open  act  of  keeping  company,  an 
hereditary  transmission  from  the  old  world  of  May- 
day  customs.  His  father  and  mother  spoke  to  him 
but  once,  and  then  besought  him  not  to  proceed 
further  in  his  love-making;  and  though  he  made  no 
promise,  nor  did  he  cease  to  walk  home  with  her 
from  singing-school  and  prayer-meeting,  still  they 
knew  he  spoke  no  direct  word  of  love  to  her. 


4i  6 


Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


Dragon  Gnomon. 

Even  after  the  death  of  both  minister  and  infidel, 
the  widow  of  Dr.  Holmes,  simply  through  her 
horror  of  an  infidel  and  a  suicide,  could  keep  her 
son  silent  as  to  his  love  for  the  daughter  of  such  a 
one,  though  he  loved  the  girl  far  too  well  ever  to 
heed  thought  of  another  sweetheart  during  all  those 
years.  The  twain  had  had  one  long  and  untram¬ 
melled  talk  after  ten  years  of  silence  ;  it  could  scarce 
be  called  a  lovers’  scene,  though  he  told  her  that  he 
loved  her  and  would  never  marry  another.  The 
reserved  girl  in  an  agony  of  plain  speech  which 
seemed  to  her  fairly  immodest,  implored  with  him 
for  her  happiness ;  she  told  of  her  infinite  patience, 


Hedge  of  Empress  of  China  Rose. 


I,,.  itM  _  ..  - 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets  417 

and  she  quoted  the  Scriptures  in  her  favor,  and  she 
pleaded  that  she  was  and  ever  had  been  a  consistent 
Christian,  a  faithful  church-member,  and  should  not 
be  sacrificed  for  the  wrong  thinking  of  another;  but 
still  his  answer  came  that  he  “hated  to  cross”  his 
mother. 

During  all  those  weary  years  there  was  one  solace 
for  the  girl  and  her  lover — her  pretty  strip  of  a 
garden.  He  worked  frequently  in  it  with  her,  and 
with  no  adverse  comment  of  friend  or  neighbor ; 
even  his  mother  made  no  opposition.  He  eagerly 
secured  for  her  rare  seeds  and  slips  wherever  he 
could  obtain  them,  lavishing  in  this  impersonal 
fashion  the  affection  he  should  have  bestowed  di¬ 
rectly  upon  her.  And  he  watched  with  her  their 
growth  and  unfolding,  lingering  over  and  cherish¬ 
ing  a  special  plant  with  something  of  the  tender  care 
and  thought  which  should  have  been  bestowed  on  a 
child.  There  was  one  delicate  Rose  tree,  which  he 
had  acquired  with  much  difficulty,  and  which  had 
needed  most  constant  care.  Every  known  and  un¬ 
known  insect  seemed  to  assail  it,  and  every  blemish 
and  blight.  John  Holmes  had  spent  many  an  hour 
bathing  with  care  each  delicate  leaf  and  stem  with 
tobacco  water,  or  intently  searching  for  injuring  in¬ 
sects.  The  green  fly  did  not  deter  him,  nor  white 
scale,  nor  even  the  “loathly  worm,”  the  slug, — 
these  he  attacked  bare-handed.  But  this  Rose-bush 
seemed  fated  to  disaster;  when  a  great  limb  was 
blown  from  the  elm  tree  it  was  borne  by  the  wind 
and  hurled  on  the  Rose-bush.  When  the  strong 
acid  for  a  solution  to  assail  the  Rose-beetle  came 


41 8  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

with  misprinted  directions,  —  the  word  gram  instead 
of  grain,  —  it  was  this  tender  Rose-bush  which  re¬ 
ceived  the  withering  liquid  in  its  cruel  strength. 
Sometimes  they  despaired  of  rearing  it,  and  with 
sensible  reasoning  tried  to  persuade  themselves  into 
digging  it  up  and  destroying  it.  But  as  with  a 
delicate  child  or  pet  of  any  kind,  they  really  loved 


Chinese  Pedestal  for  Dial,  Floral  Park,  Long  Island. 


it  the  more  for  the  very  labor  they  spent  on  it  — 
and  they  loved  it,  too,  though  they  had  never  seen  it 
in  bloom.  Mercy  said  a  little  impatiently  that  she 
“  never  expected  to  see  that  Rose-bush  blossom.” 
One  year,  by  the  extraordinary  advice  of  a  Rose¬ 
growing  and  avowedly  Rose-wise  friend,  they  picked 
off  the  buds  to  try  to  strengthen  the  sickly  bush  ; 
then  came  a  curious  blight  ever  unexplained ;  then  a 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets  419 

frost  —  and  in  June,  too  —  a  frost  hoary  enough  to 
nip  again  the  promise  of  bloom.  But  this  year  the 
Rose-bush  bore  in  triumph  a  beautiful  crown  of  a 
score  of  pressing,  rounded  buds,  a  glorious  promise 
of  fullest  beauty  ;  but  it  was  part  of  the  fate  of  the 
Rose-bush  and  of  Mercy,  that  on  the  day  when  this 
rich  coronal  burst  into  its  fulfilment  of  glowing 
ruby  bloom  —  patient  Mercy  died. 

After  the  death  of  this  gentle  girl  a  singular 
change  came  over  her  lover;  he  certainly  was  not 
insane,  but  the  delicate  adjustment  of  the  brain  was 
.somehow  awry.  His  friends  declared  that  a  slow 
fever  which  he  had  for  some  weeks  had  “  turned 
his  head.”  He  gave  up  any  careful  attention  to 
his  farm,  raising  only  enough  crops  for  food  ;  and 
from  the  time  when  the  first  green  leaf  opened  in 
the  spring  until  winter  snows  covered  the  ground, 
he  seemed  to  be  filled  with  two  ideas,  —  to  help  the 
sick  and  weakly,  and  to  scatter  Roses  far  and  wide. 
Not  the  flower!  No  one  ever  saw  him  gather  or 
carry  a  Rose.  Nor  did  he  linger  to  gaze  upon 
Roses  in  the  gardens  of  others.  His  thought  was 
turned  toward  Rose  planting.  This  certainly  should 
not  be  deemed  an  evidence  of  insanity,  when  it  was 
the  only  important  evidence  there  was.  It  was  not 
the  deed,  however,  but  the  manner  of  its  doing  that 
made  him  adjudged  a  little  mad.  He  would  thrust 
a  Rose  cutting  without  words  into  the  hand  of  some 
woman  as  she  worked  in  her  little  garden,  or  he 
would  press  upon  a  stranger  a  dozen  Rose  hips  to 
be  planted.  Pie  cared  not  to  know  of  the  growth 
of  these  Rose  seeds ;  he  simply  was  filled  with  a 


420  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


desire  to  give  Rose-bushes  to  those  who  wished  and, 
for  that  matter,  to  those  who  did  not  wish  them. 
But  when  he  gave  Roses  he  also  gave  many  a  day’s 
hard  work  in  field  or  garden  to  help  the  widowed 

or  afflicted.  Instead  of 
bitterness  and  resent¬ 
ment  over  his  grief,  a 
great  love  of  humanity 
filled  his  soul. 

In  an  humble  way 
this  man  lived  up  to  the 
fine  words  of  Abraham 
Lincoln : — 

“  Die  when  I  may,  I 
want  it  said  of  me  by  those 
who  know  me  best,  that  I 
always  plucked  a  thistle, 
and  planted  a  flower  where 
I  thought  a  flower  would 
grow.” 

It  was  not  given  to 
John  Holmes  to  pluck 
such  a  great  Thistle  as 
slavery,  nor  to  plant 
the  flower  of  liberty 
throughout  the  land;  he 
literally  gave  simple  garden  Roses,  roots  and  seeds 
and  cuttings,  wherever  he  thought  a  Rose  might  be 
loved  or  should  grow. 

There  was  no  doubt,  so  said  the  neighbors  who 
knew  him  from  childhood,  that  this  curious  “wheel 
in  his  brain  ”  came  in  some  way  through  uncon- 


Sun-dial  at  Saffron  Walden,  Essex. 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets 


421 


Sun-dial  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

scious  or  insane  imitation  of  a  harmless  character 
whom  he  had  often  seen  in  his  early  life,  one  “  Dr. 
Jones,”  who,  for  many  years  previous  to  his  death 
in  1796,  wandered  through  a  circle  of  towns  in 
southern  New  Hampshire,  devoting  himself  to  the 
spread  of  choice  Apple  trees.  This  man  was  said  to 
have  the  first  grafted  orchard  in  Hollis,  New  Hamp¬ 
shire;  and  while  he  sold  medicinal  herbs  and  herb 
medicines,  he  freely  gave  away  Apple  scions  for  graft¬ 
ing.  He  carried  two  baskets,  one  labelled  Charity, 
the  other  Pity.  Dressed  in  a  long  plaid  banyan,  or 


422  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

dressing  gown,  and  a  broad-brimmed  hat  with  a 
flaring  mourning  weed,  Dr.  Jones  made  a  queer  fig¬ 
ure  that  would  be  likely  to  influence  the  mind  of  a 

* 

wondering  boy,  and  later  that  of  a  brain-sick  man. 
Holmes  had  often  heard  of  the  love  story  of  Dr. 
Jones  in  rhyme,  for  it  was  sung  by  young  people 
in  Hollis.  The  doctor  soM  his  ballad  with  his 
“  Liberty  Tea”  and  his  bunches  of  herbs  and  sim¬ 
ples.  The  story  was  akin  to  John’s  own.  Dr.  Jones 
had  been  educated  as  a  preacher  and  was  about  to 
“  settle,”  when  he  fell  in  love  with  a  girl  to  whom 
his  family  bitterly  objected  — 

“  Because  she  came  of  a  poor  family.” 

Her  father  became  angry  at  this  scorning  of  his 
daughter,  and  angrily  forbade  young  Jones  to  visit  her. 

She  promptly  pined  away  and  died,  while  he  —  so 
ran  his  ballad  — 

“  Dressed  in  black  from  top  to  toe 
And  after  that  distracted  run 
And  so  forever  was  undone.” 

He  endeared  himself  to  every  one  in  these  New 
Hampshire  communities  through  his  gifts  of  Apple 
trees  and  his  kindly  succor  to  the  sick.  His  epitaph, 
in  the  Hollis  churchyard  reads:  — 

“  In  youth  he  was  a  scholar  bright 
In  learning  he  took  a  great  delight 
He  was  a  Major’s  only  son  — 

It  was  for  Love  he  was  undone.” 

A  similar  prophet  roamed  through  what  was  then 
the  “far  West.”  This  singular  person  was  called 


Sun-dial  and  Roses  at  Van  Cortlandt  Manor. 


423 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets 

Appleseed  Johnny,  and  he  was  well  known  through¬ 
out  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Indiana 
for  nearly  fifty  years.  During  these  years  he  ob¬ 
tained  from  the  Pennsylvania  cider-mills  enormous 
quantities  of  Apple  seeds,  and  made  it  his  life  work 
to  start  Apple  trees  in  all  pioneer  communities.  At 
first  he  bore  these  Apple  seeds  in  bags  on  his  back, 
then  he  had  a  small  horse  with  leather  panniers. 
Starting  out  on  the  Indian  trails  he  planted  seeds  in 
the  most  picturesque  spots  in  the  new  country  ;  and 
as  pioneers  came  to  settle  he  had  on  hand  every¬ 
where  plantations  of  young  trees  to  sell  to  any  who 
cared  to  buy,  or  to  give  away  freely.  He  abhorred 
grafting,  just  as  he  thought  it  a  sin  to  kill  any  living 
creature,  even  an  insect.  He  mourned  deeply  kill¬ 
ing  a  rattlesnake  that  sprang  at  him  ;  and  as  he  ever 
went  barefoot,  it  is  a  wonder  he  was  not  often  bitten. 
In  his  earlier  life  he  wore  any  cast-off  clothing  given 
him,  but  in  later  years  he  had  a  strange  garb, — 
simply  a  coffee  sack  with  holes  cut  for  his  arms, 
which  were  usually  bare  ;  and  his  hat  was  of  paste¬ 
board, —  a  box.  With  flowing  hair  and  beard  he 
seemed  a  prophet.  He  had  a  Brahminical  horror 
of  eating  any  but  vegetable  food,  nor  would  he  eat 
that  till  he  was  sure  no  hungry  person  could  be 
found  who  needed  it.  A  Swedenborgian  in  belief, 
he  expounded  his  faith  and  taught  goodness  and  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  in  every  household  ;  and  uncouth 
as  was  his  dress,  he  was  welcome  and  even  beloved. 
The  Indiana  farmer  owes  to  him  one  ill-turn.  He 
became  convinced  of  the  usefulness  of  Dog-fennel 
as  a  cure  for  malaria,  and  for  years  he  gathered  and 


424  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

sowed  the  seed  in  vast  quantities  by  every  roadside. 
It  is  now  in  these  localities  a  pestiferous  weed,  under 
special  state  legislation  for  its  eradication.  He  died 
when  seventy-two  years  old  in  a  farm-house  where 
he  stopped  to  spend  the  night,  and  he  was  sincerely 
mourned  in  all  farm  communities  throughout  the 
state.  He  practically  stocked  Ohio  and  Indiana 
with  Apple  trees,  and  was  an  important  factor  in 
the  comfortable  settlement  of  both  states. 

Such  characters  as  these  were  not  unusual  in  New 
England ;  often  their  “  queerness  ”  came  from  reli¬ 
gious  excitement.  There  was  the  Leatherman,  “  clad 
all  in  Leather,”  and  the  “  Man  with  the  Scythe.” 
These  were  perhaps  a  natural  result  of  the  first 
notions  of  change  in  religious  feeling  in  those  who 
had  been  reared  in  Puritan  rigidity.  Nor  were  these 
odd  creatures  as  alarming  to  their  neighbors  as 
might  be  imagined.  People  were  wonted  to  queer¬ 
ness  ;  they  saw  and  heard  such  preachers  as  Lorenzo 
D  ow,  the  personification  of  eccentricity.  Uncouth 
in  gait  and  bearing,  ill-favored  of  countenance,  deeply 
pitted  with  the  small-pox,  wearing  a  long  ragged 
beard,  “  when,”  says  Peter  Parley,  “  nobody  among 
us  but  old  Jagger  the  beggar  had  such  an  appendage,” 
harsh  of  voice  and  grotesque  in  speech,  it  is  a  wonder 
he  could  have  been  tolerated  ;  and  he  was  respected 
and  admired.  He  tells  in  his  autobiography  of  his 
strange  great-coat  which  he  wished  to  be  buried  in, 
and  the  two  hats  which  he  wore  at  the  same  time. 
H  is  wife  Lucy  also  wore  two  calashes.  He  married 
Peggy  Miller  after  a  courtship  of  barbaric  simplicity, 
he  having  in  his  first  words  to  her  “  made  a  motion 


Rural  Saints  and  Prophets 


425 


of  marriage.”  After  her  death  he  wrote,  “My 
loss  was  too  sensible  in  contemplating  my  feelings. 
Hence  my  judgment  dictated  a  departure  from  usual 
custom,  and  to  change  my  condition  again  on  the 
journey  of  life.”  He  acted  upon  his  judgment  with 
great  celerity.  When  preaching  in  Norwich  he 
alluded  to  his  wife’s  virtues  and  his  loss  and  closed 
by  calling  out,  “  Is  there  any  one  in  this  congre¬ 
gation  willing  to  take  the  place  of  my  departed 
Peggy?”  Up  rose  Lucy  Dolbeare,  a  gigantic 
woman  six  feet  tall  and  as  broad  as  she  was  long, 
and  called  out,  “  I  will  ”  —  and  she  did. 


CHAPTER  XX 


A  STORY  OF  FOUR  DIALS 


“  It  was  intimated  to  me  by  divers  Worthy  Persons  as  a  thing 
very  Expedient  that  an  Explication  should  be  published  of  the 
Severall  Dyalls  here  contayned  ;  They  judged  very  Expedient  a 
Declaration  thereof  should  be  sett  forth.” 

“  A  Brief  Explication  of  the  Pyramidicall  Diall  Set  up  in  his 
Majesties  Private  Garden  at  White  Hall,  July  24,  1669.” 

—  Father  Francis  Hall. 

LL  difficulties  in  the  path  of 
the  collector,  the  one  who  is 
carried  away  by  the  cacoethes 
colligendi ,  the  rage  for  collect¬ 
ing  rather  than  love  of  the 
things  collected,  add  only  to 
his  zeal  and  his  delight.  Let 
me  then  invite  his  attention 
to  sun-dials,  especially  if  his 
searches  and  wanderings  be 
laid  in  America ;  for  I  know  no  other  antique  object 
which  is  so  difficult  to  find  and  secure.  A  friend 
who  is  an  experienced  collector  of  ancient  china, 
pewter,  brass,  and  such  small  wares,  who  knows  all 
the  devious  ways  of  collectors  and  collecting,  tells 
me  that  in  the  four  years  during  which  her  attention 
has  been  placed  upon  the  collecting  of  sun-dials,  she 

426 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


427 


has  never  acquired  one.  Nay,  more  than  that, 
she  has  never  seen  an  old  sun-dial  in  all  that  time, 
though  her  summers  are  spent  in  an  alert  watch 
in  farm-houses  or  in  country  lanes  and  byways ; 

and  her  winters  in  fre- 


My  Four  Dials. 


So,  therefore,  the  story  of  the  country  acquisition 
of  the  four  dials  shown  on  this  page  may  prove  in¬ 
teresting  to  collectors,  albeit  they  are  no  extraor¬ 
dinary  tales,  but  simply  accounts  of  happy  wanderings 
in  summer  days  through  the  country-side  of  my 
beloved  New  England.  The  smallest  dial  came  to 
me  through  my  friend,  Addy  Dean.  I  have  known 
this  friend  about  six  years  ;  the  acquaintance  sprang 
into  intimate  knowledge  and  correspondence  at  first 
breath,  albeit  it  came  about  in  a  most  informal  man¬ 
ner. 

“  There’s  a  girl  about  two  mild  down  the  road  as 
has  got  old  traps  to  sell,”  answered  a  New  England 
farmer,  whom  we  hailed  in  his  field.  He  had 


428  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


come  to  the  roadside  willingly,  but  he  imparted 
his  information  unwillingly,  being  bent  instead  on 
determined  inquiry  about  us,  our  identity,  our 
bourne,  and  our  errands  We  had  answered  him 
patiently,  recurring  ever  to  our  queries  about  “  old 

blue  crockery- 
ware,  old  and¬ 
irons,  pewter  por¬ 
ringers,  and  maple 
bureaus.”  “What 
is  her  name  ?  ” 
we  asked  briskly, 
meaning  to  drive 
on  and  trust  to 
fortune  and  some 
one  else  to  find 
“  the  girl.”  “Ye 
drive  down  the 
road  to  the  school- 
house;  then  turn 
to  the  left  and  go 
to  a  big  Oak  tree  ; 
go  down  that  lane 
and  turn  in  on 
Shield-shaped  Vertical  Dial.  Made  by  the  River  Road 
John  S.  Bailey.  to  a  driftway  —  ” 

“  Isn’t  there  a  straighter  road  ?  ”  we  interrupt. 
There  was  a  straighter  and  simpler  way,  of  course  ; 
country  folk  delight  in  complicated  instructions  for 
reaching  a  destination.  “You’ll  know  her  when  you 
see  her;  she’s  about  my  age.  We  went  to  school 
together.”  Of  his  age !  He  might  have  been 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials  429 

sixty  or  eighty  or  a  hundred,  as  he  leaned  on  his 
hoe ;  for  his  face  was  so  streaked  with  layers  of  dirt 
and  honest  sweat  of  the  brow  that  he  seemed  not 
to  have  been  born  and  grown  in  human  manner, 
but  to  be  formed  in  geological  strata.  The  Dean 
Farm  proved  to  be  remote  indeed  from  the  road, — 
so  isolated  that  from  it  no  other  house  could  be 
seen,  though  there  were  neighboring  farm-houses  in 
sheltered  hollows  and  behind  near  woods.  A  silence 
like  that  of  the  enchanted  palace  in  the  story  of  the 
Sleeping  Beauty  lay  upon  the  house  as  we  drove 
into  the  dooryard  in  the  hot  sunlight;  every  door 
and  window  was  closed  and  even  locked  ;  no  farm 
“beasts”  were  around,  no  friendly  cackle  of  hens 
and  rooster  was  heard,  no  bark  of  dog,  no  sign  even 
in  the  air  of  the  ever  present  hog.  A  vigorous 
pounding  on  the  door-knocker  wakened,  as  in  the 
fairy  tale  of  old,  the  sleeping  kingdom.  A  great 
dog  bounded  around  the  house  corner;  a  brood  of 
chickens  followed  their  disturbed  mother  from  the 
barn-yard  ;  from  a  tiny  window  in  an  ell  came  the 
voice  of  the  princess,  “  Here’s  the  key,”  and  it  fell 
from  the  window  at  our  feet.  “  Go  in  and  see 
things,”  she  added,  in  cheerful  welcome.  It  is  one 
of  the  surprises  of  New  England  farm-life  that  the 
woman  who  is  housekeeper  and  houseworker,  be  she 
wife  or,  as  in  this  case,  sister,  can  have  time  in  the 
afternoon  for  a  comfortable  nap.  She  needs  it,  of 
course,  having  risen  early  and  worked  hard  ;  the 
wonder  is  that  she  gets  it.  From  the  barn-doors 
appeared  the  princes,  —  the  Dean  boys,  —  who  had 
evidently  been  napping  too,  on  the  hay.  They 


430  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


gave  one  glance  at  us,  returned  to  the  barn,  and 
reappeared  with  a  wooden  peck  measure  half  full 
of  pears,  offered  to  us  with  the  princely  hospitality  of 
a  New  England  farm  that  gives  to  you  the  best  of 
whatever  it  has.  In  this  splendid  “  dish  of  pears” 

I  discovered  to  my  de¬ 
light  that  most  luscious 
of  all  pears,  the  Flem¬ 
ish  Beauty,  which  I  had 
not  seen  for  years.  Two 
great  trees  of  the  vari¬ 
ety  grew  in  our  garden. 
They  were  of  most  vig¬ 
orous  growth,  and  the 
fruit  of  extraordinary 
perfection.  The  Flem¬ 
ish  Beauty  is  liable  to  a 
curious  warping  and 
splitting,  turning  black 
in  these  splits  and  in 
mottled  spots,  and  thus 
not  becoming  over  in¬ 
viting  in  appearance, 
though  its  flavor  is 
scarcely  injured  thereby. 
Our  Flemish  Beauties 

Sun-dial  on  Ely  Cathedral:  “The 
Lantern.” 

and  in  looking  back  upon  their  growth  I  can  recog¬ 
nize  why  they  were  so  perfect.  They  grew  in  the 
evil  germ-bearing  days  of  open  sink-drains ;  the 
water  from  our  kitchen  must  have  proved  a  con- 


never  were  split  or 
spotted  or  blackened; 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


43i 


stant  supply  of  moisture  and  richness  for  these  Pear 
trees,  which  stood  on  either  side  of  the  opening  of 
the  drain. 

Since  that  September  day  when  the  Dean  brothers 
gave  us  of  their  bounty,  I  have  had  Flemish  Beauty 
pears  from  their  trees  each  autumn.  When  Addy 
Dean  appeared,  and  in  a  surprisingly  short  time,  I 
saw  why  she  was  termed  a  girl.  By  the  testimony  of 
the  stratified  farmer  she  must  have  been  sixty  years 
old  ;  but  her  face,  with  the  fine  pink  bloom  of  its 
cheek,  was  that  of  perennial  youth.  She  was  thin 
to  a  degree,  and  clad  in  ancient  garments  which  bore 
no  pretense  of  modern  reshaping.  A  tucked  barege 
of  green  and  white  was  worn  with  a  purple  sprigged 
lawn  waist  of  a  style  of  forty  years  since;  its  shoulder- 
seams  drooped  halfway  to  the  elbow  in  comic  resem¬ 
blance  to  a  recently  revived  mode.  A  tiny  fringed 
black  silk  cape  hung  around  her  thin  shoulders. 
Her  pale  hair,  pale  with  that  curious  faded  look 
assumed  by  golden  locks  when  mingled  with  silver, 
was  so  trimly  brushed  and  dressed  that  we  wondered 
whether  she  could  have  been  napping  on  a  Japanese 
neck-pillow. 

Addy  Dean  is  a  type  of  New  England  life  which, 

I  fear,  will  never  be  found  in  generations  to  come ;  a 
life  of  absolute  dignity,  even  in  comparative  poverty. 
She  lives  with  her  brothers  in  their  hundred-year- 
old  house,  with  scant  comfort,  poor  fare,  and 
self-respecting  independence,  on  a  farm  whose  soil 
throws  rocks  up  to  view  far  more  readily  than  corn. 
In  the  kitchen  of  that  farm-house  has  never  stepped, 
I  believe,  the  foot  of  hireling  servants  —  not  even 


432  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

country  help.  Perhaps  in  strenuous  time  of  birth 
or  death  some  nurse  of  the  country-side  may  have 
spent  a  few  days,  and  been  given  in  payment  a  bag 
of  meal,  a  ham,  a  barrel  of  potatoes,  or  a  jug  of 
cider-brandy ;  but  it  is  far  more  likely  that  all  such 
offices  have  been  performed  by  kindly  neighbors  or 
kinsfolk.  Every  detail  of  housework  has  ever  been 
done  by  the  women  of  the  household,  and  in  past 
days  they  made  much  butter,  too,  for  sale.  Addy 
Dean  is  shrewder  than  her  grandmother.  To  raise 
eggs  to  sell  is  far  less  work  to  the  farm-wife  than  to 
make  butter ;  and  selling  antiques  is  more  profitable 
than  either.  She  was  clever  enough  ten  years  ago 
to  discover,  even  on  that  isolated  farm,  through  the 
queries  of  the  collectors  for  antique  dealers,  that 
there  was  an  opening  for  her  to  make  money,  and 
she  has,  as  the  old  books  say,  “improved”  it.  Addy 
Dean  was  so  antique  in  dress  and  so  simple  and 
direct  in  her  speech  that  her  letters  were  a  great 
surprise  to  me  as  well  as  a  great  delight.  She  has 
ample  fund  of  quotation  and  comparison,  and  shows 
thereby  goodly  reading,  though  she  lives  six  miles 
from  the  village  library,  and  two  of  these  six  miles 
are  private  ways,  one  mile  a  driftway  through  the 
fields,  and  never  broken  out  in  winter  by  the  town. 
Winter  is,  of  course,  her  only  reading  time.  I  noted 
in  her  house  a  surprising  number  of  magazines  and 
weekly  papers,  possibly  not  of  the  latest  dates, 
which  matters  little  —  far  more  magazines,  I  am 
sure,  than  are  read  by  the  city  dweller  in  general ; 
far  more  than  I  read  myself.  Her  spelling  is  per¬ 
fection,  like  nearly  all  New  Englanders  of  her  gen- 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


433 


eration,  whatever  that  may  be  —  I  am  setting  her 
age  as  sixty.  She  was  educated  at  the  district  school, 
which  was  one  of  the  unique  microcosms  of  our 
new-world  life,  the  town-meeting  being  another. 
I  doubt  whether  the  scholar  received  much  more 
personal  attention  than  in  our  graded  schools  to¬ 
day,  but  the  district  school  somehow  afforded  a 
happier  education  than  is  now  given ;  for  a  good 


Ancient  Sun-dial  (?).  Owned  by  Author. 


“all-around  start  in  life,”  with  an  education  enab¬ 
ling  one  to  write  a  good  letter  and  to  enjoy  a  good 
book,  I  know  nothing  that  can  at  all  compare  with 
the  “schooling”  of  the  district  school.  It  had  its 
faults,  but  they  were  not  so  great  for  their  place  and 
time  as  are  the  faults  of  the  present  graded  school. 
The  district  school  turned  out  such  pupils  as  Addy 
Dean;  doubtless  nearly  all  children  are  better  schol¬ 
ars,  further  “  advanced,”  in  our  public  schools  to- 


434  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

day  than  she  was  at  their  age.  But  what  I  question 
is,  will  they  be  as  good  scholars  as  she  is  when  they 
are  her  age  ?  I  am  sure  they  cannot  love  their 
schools  as  she  loves  the  memory  of  hers.  They 
will  have  little  to  remind  them  of  it.  She  has  a 
sorely  worn  dozen  of  school  books  —  battered  as 
would  be  school  books  studied  by  five  or  six  scholars 
in  succession.  But  there  they  are,  to  jog  her  mem¬ 
ory  if  she  opens  them,  not  only  to  recall  a  bit  of 
geography  or  grammar,  but  to  recall  district  school 
and  scholars  through  the  scribbled  lore  on  fly  leaves 
and  page  borders.  Nothing  can  be  to  me  more  for¬ 
lorn,  more  like  a  convict  system,  than  the  latter-day 
fact  that  scholars  do  not  own  their  school  books  — 
these  are  the  property  of  the  city.  The  child  never 
“  minds  his  book  ”  save  in  school  hours,  and  never 
sees  it  when  he  leaves. 

No  child  of  to-day  wjll  ever,  forty  years  from 
now,  show  with  almost  tender  reminiscence,  a 
“thumb-paper”  which  has  chanced  to  remain  in 
her  “Reader”  since  her  school  days;  a  thumb- 
paper  being  —  oh  !  you  poor,  unfortunate  child  who 
owns  not  your  own  school  book  —  a  square  of  stiff 
letter-paper  or  possibly  colored  paper,  folded  in 
a  certain  fashion  to  protect  the  lower  portion  of 
the  leaf  from  “pricking  thumbs.”  This  “thumb- 
paper  ”  of  Addy  Dean  was  of  ruled  blue  foolscap 
and  had  as  an  appurtenance  a  long  bit  of  linen 
thread,  the  end  of  which  was  brought  around  the 
outer  book-back  and  tucked  in  securely  between  the 
leaves;  this  was  to  hold  the  “thumb-paper”  in 
place,  and  in  this  case  it  had  held  it  for  half  a  cen- 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


435 


tury.  In  these  school  books  of  Addy  Dean  I  found 
with  glad  recognition  all  the  half-forgotten  fly-leaf 
lore  of  my  own  childhood  in  Worcester,- — the  warn¬ 
ing  rhymes  and  set  border  drawings  of  school 
children  ;  the  Preface  legends,  and  the  coin-tracings, 
or  rubbings,  which  we  sometimes  cut  out  and  used  as 
money  in  our  pin-stores,  poppy-shows,  and  grocery- 
stores. 

Addy  Dean  has  in  the  village  a  place  where  she 
can  display  any  unusual  piece  of  furniture  or  china 
which  she  has  found ;  it  will  in  the  summer-time 
catch  there  the  eye  of  the  summer  visitor,  and  thus 
tole  him  or  her  to  the  isolated  Dean  Farm  and  fur¬ 
ther  purchases.  We  are  apt  to  fancy  that  we  secure 
great  treasures  if  we  purchase  them  from  lonely 
farm-houses.  This  show  room  is  in  the  house  of  a 
widower,  a  friend  of  the  farmer  who  first  told  us  of 
her.  We  suspect  that  the  widower  is  an  old  ad¬ 
mirer  ;  he,  too,  always  speaks  of  her  as  a  girl.  She 
had  no  sun-dials  when  I  first  visited  her  home.  It 
was  nearly  a  year  before  she  could  send  me  this  one. 
And  I  tell,  as  an  example  of  the  dignified  way  in 
which  this  woman  performs  her  duty  in  her  day  and 
her  sphere  in  life,  that  ere  she  sent  it  to  me  she 
asked  permission  to  have  a  copy  cast  from  it,  “  to 
give  to  the  children  in  the  public  school.”  On 
further  inquiry  I  found  that  she  had  made  for  the 
school  of  the  little  town  a  very  good  collection  of 
unusual  objects  which  would  interest  and  instruct  the 
scholars,  —  Indian  arrow-heads,  curious  utensils,  old 
farm  tools,  carpentering  tools,  and  a  few  old  manu¬ 
scripts.  As  a  proof  of  the  absolute  disappearance 


436  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


of  the  sun-dial  in  many  localities,  let  me  state  that 
this  sun-dial  is  the  only  one  Addy  Dean  has  ever 
found  for  me  ;  and  when  it  was  displayed  to  the 

scholars  in  that 
school,  there  was 
not  a  child  pres¬ 
ent  who  knew 
what  it  was,  or 
who  had  ever 
seen  a  sun-dial ; 
and  I  am  not 
sure  that  there 
was  one  present 
who  had  ever 
heard  of  one. 

There  may  be 
one  special  rea¬ 
son  for  this  : 
Addy  Dean  lives 
in  the  valley  of 
the  upper  Con¬ 
necticut,  and 
when  the  towns 
were  settled 
there,  about  the 
time  of  the  Rev¬ 
olutionary  War, 
clocks  had  already  become  cheap  and  common. 
Thrifty  settlers,  and  it  was  such  who  went  there,  and 
who  left  such  descendants  as  Addy  Dean  and  her 
brothers, —  these  careful  men  managed  to  carry  a  small 
clock,  even  when  the  journey  was  made  on  horseback. 


Sun-dial  at  Didsbury,  England. 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


437 


In  our  New  England 
home-gardens  and  home- 
meadows,  and  I  am  told 
also  in  yards  and  gar¬ 
dens  in  the  Middle  and 
Southern  states,  there 
grow  trees  unclassified  of 
botanist,  unnamed  of 
scientist.  It  matters  not 
their  fruit,  their  flower, 
or  their  cone  or  nut,  it 
matters  not  the  shape  of 
their  leaves  nor  the 
spread  of  their  branches  ; 
but  be  they  broad  of 
trunk  or  bole  they  are 
right,  and  by  their  roots 
ye  shall  know  them. 
Any  tree  that  runs  into 
the  earth  wide-spreading 
or  curiously  gnarled  roots 
that  extend  out  a  little 
protected  enclosure  or 
circuit,  this  tree  is  the 
Children’s  Tree,  and 
those  roots  form  for  the 
children  their  “cubby- 
house.”  This  word  cub¬ 
by-house  ^  universally  used 
by  children,  is  one  of 
those  obscure  and  uni¬ 
versal  terms  so  tempting 


Sun-dial,  showing  Mean  Time. 
Made  by  John  S.  Bailey. 


438  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

to  the  philologist.  The  word  cub ,  in  the  sense  of 
the  young  of  various  animals,  has  always  been  con¬ 
temptuously  applied  to  servants,  and,  in  the  eigh¬ 
teenth  century,  to  the  assistants  in  hospitals,  now 
known  as  “  interns.”  “  Each  surgeon  shall  have 
three  cubs  as  helpers,”  says  an  old  hospital  rule. 
T  he  word  cubicle  (from  the  Latin  cubare)  seems  to 
be  little  used  save  for  the  little  cubby-holes  of  our 
boys’  schools,  —  such,  for  instance,  as  the  fifth  form 
sleeping-apartments  at  St.  Paul’s  School.  I  am  always 
glad  to  find  Dr.  Holmes  using  the  word  cubby-hole, 
as  he  does  all  New  England  words  and  phrases,  even 
in  his  serious  writings.  I  have  no  doubt  he  played 
in  a  cubby-house,  for  they  were  beloved  of  boys  as 
well  as  girls.  The  boys’  cubby-houses  showed  dis¬ 
tinct  and  different  furnishings.  I  well  remember 
one  under  a  great  Oak  tree  in  sunny  Narragansett, 
where  two  loved  boys  played  many  a  long  summer 
day.  Of  one  child,  alas  !  only  such  happy  memories 
remain.  This  cubby-house  held  pop-guns  of  elder¬ 
berry  stems,  willow  whistles,  corn-silk  cigars,  strings 
of  horse-chestnuts,  and  a  little  farm  with  stone  walls 
laid  of  pebbles,  and  wonderful  farm  animals  made 
of  potatoes  and  carrots  stuck  with  wooden  legs. 

Two  years  ago  I  paused  one  summer  afternoon 
at  the  door  of  an  old  farm-house  and  walked  around 
to  the  kitchen  door  to  ask  for  “a  drink  of  water” 
from  the  old  well  whose  well-sweep  had  lured  me 
from  afar.  At  the  farther  end  of  the  kitchen  yard 
I  spied  with  delight  a  Children’s  Tree,  —  an  ancient 
Pine  tree  ;  and  in  the  cleanly  circuit  of  its  roots,  on 
its  needled  floor,  was  set  a  sight  to  thrill  the  happy 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


439 


memories  of  vanished  years.  There  was  all  the  old 
familiar  stock  and  store  of  trash  which  is  transmuted 
by  childhood’s  subtle  alchemy  into  unutterable  treas¬ 
ure  :  milkweed  pods,  acorn  cups,  cleft  peach-stones, 
rose-hips,  and  that  ever  present  furnishing  of  cubby- 
houses, —  broken  china.  American  children  gather 
their  treasures  precisely  as  is  told  of  the  children  of 
the  ancient  Britons,  “  pots-herds  or  broken  glasses 
or  bones  half  burnt,  or  lime,  or  plaster”;  ground-up 
and  calcined  bones  make  wonderful  flour  for  childish 
storehouses.  We  had  pretty  dolls’  tea-sets  of  turned 
wood  and  of  real  Chinese  porcelain,  Lowestoft,  for 
which  we  cared  little ;  there  was  no  imagination 
about  them,  and  we  could  not  take  them  out-of- 
doors  and  handle  them  freely. 

I  noted  a  few  bits  of  old  blue  and  lustre  ware  in 
this  wayside  cubby-house  which  promised  ancient 
wares  within-doors  in  the  mother’s  pantry  and  cup¬ 
board,  which  we  might  be  able  to  purchase  if  she 
“cared  to  dispose  of  them”  (never  to  sell  them), 
when  my  attention  was  fixed  by  the  little  circular 
table  of  pewter  about  seven  inches  in  diameter  on 
which  the  choicest  bits  of  the  child’s  china  were 
carefully  displayed.  Like  a  “  table-bord  ”  of  ancient 
days,  it  seemed  to  be  propped  up  from  beneath  by 
crossed  wooden  sticks  like  saw-horses  which  served 
as  table-supports  or  trestles. 

We  had  passed  the  children  coming  home  from 
school,  and  even  now  they  were  racing  down  the 
home  lane.  So  we  waited,  gazing  rather  sadly  at 
the  cubby-house  treasures,  until  the  older  girl  had 
run  in  to  us,  and  at  our  request  carefully  removed 


44°  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 


the  china  and  pulled  up  and  turned  over  the  pewter 
dining  table,  displaying  to  us  on  what  had  been  the 

under  side  the 
gnomon  and  let¬ 
tering  of  an  old 
sun-dial. 

She  had  found 
it  in  the  attic  and 
father  thought  it 
was  part  of  a 
water-clock  ;  he 
had  read  of  such 
things,  but  he 
could  not  think 
how  it  could  run. 
She  was  over- 
comewithdelight 
at  the  proposal 
to  exchange  her 
pewter  table,  her 
clepsydra,  for  a 
pretty  travelling- 
mirror  which  our 
dressing-case 
contained  ;  and 
the  second  sun¬ 
dial  in  the  group, 
Sun-dial  in  Garden  of  William  Robinson,  the  one  With  a 
Author  of  the  English  Flower  Garden,  circular  base,  is 
Gravetye  Manor,  Sussex,  England.  .  . 

now  in  my  coi- 

lection,  to  remind  me  ever  of  that  happy  summer 
day  and  the  little  cubby-house  under  the  Pine  tree. 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


44 1 


New  Fmgland  houses  are,  in  general,  frankly  open 
in  aspect,  having  no  hidden  meaning,  no  suggestion 
of  sentiment.  On  the  Ridge  Road  stands  a  house 
of  unusual  bearing,  unlike  its  fellows  in  the  old 
“  South  County,”  —  a  house  which  suggests  even  to 
the  careless  traveller  something  unusual,  remote 
from  everyday  life  and  experience.  It  is  so  densely 
fronted  with  black-shadowed  Cedars  that  you  scarce 
see  it  in  passing;  and  a  single  grand  old  Fir  tree,  a 
remnant  of  the  forest  primeval,  overhangs  the  Cedars 
and  the  lowly  roof-tree ;  shadows  of  Cedars  and  Fir 
tree  mantle  back  into  a  stately,  reserved  Pine  forest 
close  in  the  rear.  The  front  windows  of  the  lower 
story  are  heavily  shuttered  behind  the  Cedars,  but  the 
scant  half-story  above  has  blinking  windows  at  the 
house  ends  under  the  overhanging  roof.  The  house 
looks  like  a  creature  reflecting  and  enduring  in  silence. 
It  stands  near  the  cross-roads  and  is  not  far  from  the 
old  post-road,  which  went  up  hill  and  down  dale,  but 
is  never  used  for  business  drives  to-day  ;  it  shows  by 
these  two  facts  in  its  placing  that  its  builder  had  social 
instincts  and  interests,  that  he  wished  to  know  his 
neighbors  and  the  passing  world.  There  is  a  family 
burying-place  at  the  end  of  the  garden,  enclosed  by 
more  rank,  darkling  Cedars  and  a  sister  Fir  tree.  A 
row  of  slate  headstones  show  by  their  scant  inscriptions 
that  a  family  of  brothers  and  sisters  here  lie  close  to¬ 
gether.  On  the  grave  of  most  recent  date  (though  that 
date  is  1830)  and  over  the  neighboring  headstones 
trails  a  choked  Damask  Rose.  It  is  sadly  unkempt, 
full  of  its  own  dead  branches,  and  a  tangle  of  Fir 
cones  and  many  twigs  and  branches  of  broken  Cedar. 


44 1  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

Nearly  a  year  after  the  death  of  the  last  sister  there 
suddenly  appeared  in  the  village,  unacquainted,  and 
to  the  surprise  of  all  the  curious  neighbors,  a  distant 
cousin  of  the  family,  an  elderly  woman  named  Johns, 
who  quietly  settled  before  “the  Squire  ”  her  claims  to 
ownership  of  the  house,  and  established  herself  therein. 

Since  he  was  as  reticent  of  nature,  nearly,  as  she 
was,  the  curiosity  of  the  neighbors  was  never  satisfied. 
The  lower  shutters  were  then  closed,  and  locked 
within,  and  never  opened  during  her  life-time, — 
an  action  typical  of  the  reserve  of  her  nature ;  and 
she  thereafter  lived  in  the  rooms  in  the  upper  story. 
She  was  a  weaver;  I  have  told  her  life  (in  the  scant 
details  known  to  old  residents  in  the  South  County) 
in  the  chapter  entitled  Narragansett  Weavers,  in  my 
little  book  of  stories  of  Old  Narragansett.  There 
were  many  hand-weavers  in  the  South  County, 
where  wool-weaving  by  machinery  has  since  been  so 
sturdily  established  ;  more  than  elsewhere  in  New 
England.  There  is  one  weaver  still,  William  Rose, 
who  weaves  yearly  on  his  hand-loom  scores  of  bed- 
coverlets  and  hap-harlots,  and  other  weavers  who 
weave  rag  carpets  only.  There  were  in  older  days 
many  weavers  who  worked  in  their  own  homes, 
spinning  their  own  wool  into  yarn  and  weaving  it 
into  cloth  to  sell,  or  weaving  the  thread  and  yarn 
brought  them  by  their  neighbors  ;  and  there  were 
travelling  weavers  also,  who  “  whipped  the  cat  ” 
from  house  to  house,  working  for  a  few  shillings  a 
day  and  their  “  keep.”  Sometimes  they  brought 
their  looms  and  set  them  up  and  spun  for  a  month 
or  two  —  as  when  making  a  wedding  outfit. 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


443 


There  were  women  weavers,  too,  in  plenty,  and 
Mistress  Johns  joined  their  number.  She  soon  ex¬ 
celled  them  all  in  quality  and  quantity  of  her  work, 
and  therefore  had  work  in  plenty.  I  suppose  it  was 
her  silence  as  well  as  her  singular  habit  of  stopping 
when  at  her  work,  and 
sitting  for  hours  mo¬ 
tionless,  which  soon 
gave  her  the  name  of 
being  a  witch.  It  often 
angered  the  housewives 
when  they  were  in  a 
hurry  for  a  piece  of 
homespun  for  the  boys’ 
winter  garments,  to  see 
her  sit  silent  for  hours, 
peering  strangely  into 
the  loom,  but  they 
feared  her  witchcraft 
and  said  nothing ;  and 
when  night  came,  all 
would  leave  her  in  the 
loom-loft  with  candles  or 
primitive  lamps,  silent 
still.  But  at  midnight 
the  family  would  hear  a 
low,  half-toned  dapping  of  the  loom  ;  not  a  loud 
bang,  bang,  as  of  honest  weavers,  but  a  dim  sound 
of  some  one  —  the  Old  Boy  —  of  course,  helping  the 
witch  out  on  her  stint.  So  at  the  week’s  end  there 
was  always  more  linen  ready  for  bleaching,  more 
homespun  cloth  on  the  roll,  more  yards  of  rag 


Sun-dial  and  Porch  of  Church, 
Grateley,  Hampshire,  England. 


444  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday 

carpet  ready  for  sewing  than  could  be  turned  out 
by  any  man  weaver  in  Narragansett. 

Therefore,  though  it  might  be  hitching  up  with 
the  Devil,  even  the  parson’s  wife  employed  her,  and 
every  household  gave  her  work  in  plenty.  She 
never  ate  with  her  employer,  even  when  she  stayed 
half  the  night,  nor  did  they  see  that  she  brought 
food  with  her ;  and  she  never  talked,  save  to  learn  of 
her  work ;  and  no  neighbor  ever  entered  her  door, 
for  she  was  seldom  there  save  after  nightfall,  any¬ 
way.  She  lived  to  great  old  age,  the  last  itinerant 
weaver  in  Old  Narragansett.  There  came  a  time 
when,  after  a  heavy  storm,  she  did  not  appear  as 
bidden  in  a  gay  household  where  preparations  for  a 
wedding  were  under  way,  and  where  she  was  to 
weave  rag  carpet  for  the  bedrooms  of  the  bride’s 
new  home.  A  kindly  little  tailoress,  learning  this, 
went  across  fields  with  a  hand-lantern  after  nightfall, 
and  entered  the  dark  house,  and  climbed  the  narrow 
staircase ;  a  poky  thing  to  do,  and  a  difficult  one, 
for  the  tailoress  was  old ;  a  brave  and  Christian-like 
deed,  too,  for  she  was  a  timid  and  superstitious  soul. 
She  found  the  weaver-witch  dead  in  her  bed,  with  the 
rain  blowing  in  through  the  broken  roof,  which  had 
partly  blown  off  in  the  storm.  It  was  a  sad  sight, 
and  one  that  throughout  her  life  ever  terrified  the 
kindly  little  creature. 

The  following  August  a  visit  was  made  to  the 
“  Witch’s  House  ”  to  see  if  aught  of  interest  or 
value  remained  in  the  house.  The  end  windows 
had  been  broken  by  stones  thrown  by  marauding 
boys,  and  spring  rains  and  summer  suns  had  freely 


A  Story  of  Four  Dials 


445 


Sun-dial  at  Chastleton  Manor,  Oxfordshire,  England, 


entered  through  window  and  roof.  And  the  witch’s 
bed  on  which  she  died,  a  sack  filled  with  straw  of 
mouse-barley  with  some  spikes  of  grains  attached, 
had  sprouted  and  grown  through  the  coarse  hempen 
bedtick,  and  thus  her  bed  was  as  green  as  the  grass 
over  her  unmarked  grave  under  the  garden  Cedars. 

I  have  half  a  score  of  her  loom-shuttles,  and 
some  of  her  loom-spools,  a  raddle  (or  rake),  a  sley, 
some  niddy-noddies,  —  all  these  are  portrayed  in  my 
book  Home  Life  in  Colonial  Days.  And  I  have  her 
sun-dial,  it  is  the  third  in  the  illustration  on  page 
427.  A  primitive  little  dial,  it  served  her  well 
through  many  years  of  honest  work  and  isolated 
life  ;  for  she  had  no  other  timekeeper. 

The  fourth  —  the  largest  sun-dial  — is  not  in  very 
good  favor  with  me  at  present.  I  bought  it  from  an 


446  Sun-dials  and  Roses  of  Yesterday- 

ingenuous  farmer  on  The  Boston  Road.  Black  and 
dirty,  it  was  cemented  to  a  tree  stump  in  his  kitchen 
garden,  and  seemed  as  old  as  the  house,  which  he 
said  was  a  hundred,  and  which  I  thought  he  said  was 
built  by  his  grandfather.  I  was  much  delighted  when 
I  purchased  it ;  but  just  as  I  hurried  away  from  the 
farm  kitchen  he  displayed  to  us  several  pitchers  of 
silver  lustre  and  hall  a  dozen  blue  willow-ware  plates 
which  he  would  be  willing  to  part  with.  We  could 
only  glance  at  them,  as  we  had  scant  time  to  drive 
two  miles  to  catch  the  local  train,  but  by  that 
fleeting  glance  those  pieces  of  old  crockery  certainly 
looked  brand  new.  At  the  station  I  had  one  minute 
to  interview  a  stage-driver.  “How  long  has  Ellis 
lived  on  his  place  up  the  road?”  I  said.  “About  a 
year,”  was  the  answer.  “  Hasn’t  he  a  sun-dial  for 
sale  ?  ”  I  venture  diplomatically.  “  Don’t  know  as 
he  has  ;  he  sold  it  last  week.” 

Now  if  he  sold  his  sun-dial  last  week,  from 
whence  came  my  dial  ?  My  friends  believe  the  dial 
is  an  old  one,  but  I  think  Farmer  Ellis  is  a  broken- 
down  city  dealer  with  an  attic  full  of  new  dials  cast 
in  some  old  mould  or  stamped  with  some  old  die, 
ever  ready  to  replace  the  recently  sold  one  in  the 
kitchen  yard. 


INDEX 


Abbotsford,  dial  at,  12. 

Abbott,  Peter,  in  Coronation  Chair,  380. 
Accomplisht  Cook,  315. 

Accurate  time,  dial  showing,  49-50. 
Acorns,  food  of,  410. 

Addison,  J„  quoted,  275. 

Adlington  Hall,  dial  at,  169. 

Adlumia,  as  “  cover-ground,"  363. 
Admiralty  House  diai,  219-220. 

Affair  0/  the  Diamond  Necklace,  375. 
Affair  of  the  Pinks,  351  et  scq. 

Ahaz,  dial  of.  See  Horologium  Achaz. 
Aime  Jean,  376. 

Alabaster,  for  dials,  207. 

Albany,  N.Y.,  meridian  line  at,  40. 
Alchemy,  325,  327,  370,  387. 
Aldborough,  Saxon  dial  at,  81. 
Aldeburgh  Moot  Hall,  10,  64. 
Alexandria,  Va.,  national  cornerstone 
at,  42. 

Alfred,  King,  candle-clocks  of,  54. 
Alice  in  Wonderland,  318-319. 

Alka,  37. 

Allentown,  Pa.,  dial  at,  88,  89,  90,  92. 
Almanacs,  189,  190. 

Alphabet  of  flowers,  199. 

Althorp  House,  Northants,  2x9,  220. 
Ambassadors,  by  Holbein,  78. 
Ambleside,  dials  at,  25-26,  290-291. 
Amulets,  403. 

Analemmatic  dial,  151. 

Anemometer,  59. 

Anemoscopes,  58-59. 

Angels  holding  dials,  14,  16,  17,  18. 
Anglo-Saxon  division  of  time,  73. 
Anna  Maria  Rose,  344. 

Anne  Boleyn,  emblem  of,  328  ;  pageants 
for,  328  et  seq. 


Anne  de  Diesbach  Roses,  345,  346. 

Anne  of  Cleves,  emblem  of,  330. 

Apothecaries'  Rose,  341. 

Appleby,  286-290. 

Appleseed  Johnny,  423  et  seq. 

Appoline  Rose,  352-353. 

Argeles,  shepherd’s-dial  from,  125. 

Armillary  sphere-dials,  141  et  seq. 

Arms,  Royal,  embroidered,  169. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  quoted,  229,  290. 

Ascot  Church,  memorial  dial  and  lamp 
at,  293. 

Ashmole,  Elias,  371 ;  a  Free  Mason,  380 
et  seq. ;  cited,  325. 

Assyria,  allies  with  Ahaz,  392. 

Astrolabe,  131  etseq.  ;  Chaucer  on,  132- 
134- 

Astrology,  104,  108-109,  381,  389,  403. 

Athens,  dials  at,  58 ;  anemoscope  at, 

58. 

Atlas-bearing  dial,  141. 

Attached  dials,  63-74. 

Aubrey,  quoted,  111,  112,  113,  114, 

35°- 

Augsburg,  dials  at,  398,  405. 

Austrian  Rose,  338,  341. 

Ayrshire,  dials  at,  74. 

Ayrshire  Roses,  344. 

Aztec,  signs  of  zodiac,  190  et  seq., 

195- 

Babylonian  divisions  of  time,  116,  392; 
rectification  of  calendar,  392;  ob¬ 
servation  chambers,  392 ;  sun-dial, 
392- 

Bacon,  Roger,  382  et  seq. 

Badge,  defined,  176,  320. 

Baker,  Marcus,  cited,  43. 


447 


448 


Index 


Balcarres  Castle,  dial  at,  4. 

Baltimore  Belle  Rose,  343,  344. 
Bancroft,  George,  Rose  garden  of,  361, 
et  seq. 

Bangor,  Ireland,  dial  in,  269. 

Banksia  Roses,  355. 

Barker,  F.,  and  Son,  Messrs.,  dials  made 
by,  48,  49,  141,  197,  198,  200,  208, 
220,  222,  284,  285. 

Barometer,  invention  of,  382,  384. 
Barton,  Bernard,  quoted,  7. 

Bartram,  John,  cited,  407  et  seq.; 

quoted,  407. 

Bayeux  tapestry,  58. 

Beata  Beatrix ,  17. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  quoted,  300. 
Bed  of  state,  168-170. 

Bedfordshire,  England,  dial  at,  52,  266. 
Behmen,  Jacob,  400,  402. 

Beissel,  Conrad,  406;  made  magister, 
408  et  seq. 

Bell,  Mrs.  Alfred,  dial  of,  272. 

Belton  House,  dial  at,  198,  216. 

Bengal  Roses,  354. 

Berkeley  Castle,  window-dial  at,  52. 
Berwyn,  Pa.,  dial  at,  209,  210. 
Bethrothal  Hall,  289. 

Betty-lamps,  2. 

Bewcastle,  cross  at,  72  et  seq. ;  dial  at, 
72 ;  customs  of,  73. 

Beza,  Theodore,  emblems  of,  167. 

Black  Friars’  Burying-ground,  dial  in, 
230. 

Black  Roses,  342. 

Blacksmith’s  arm  as  a  gnomon,  230-231. 
Blake,  William,  cited,  240. 

Block-dials,  129,  130,  133,  145. 

Blush  Rose,  347. 

Boar  as  an  emblem,  326. 

Bodleian  Library,  quadrant  in,  396. 
Boleyn,  Anne.  See  Anne  Boleyn. 
Bologna,  meridian  line  at,  40. 
Book-dials,  148,  150. 

Book  of  Changes ,  186,  187. 

Book  of  Sun-dials,  134. 

Bordeaux  Roses,  352  et  seq. 

Botanic  garden  of  Dr.  Witt,  407. 


Boulder,  as  base  for  dial,  209,  210. 
Bourbon  Roses,  352-353. 
Bournemouth,  sun-dial  at,  372. 
Boursault  Roses,  344  et  seq. 

Box  around  dial,  232. 

Boxwood  for  dial,  123,  124,  125. 

Boyle,  Hon.  Mrs.  E.  V.,  dials  of,  212- 
214;  quoted,  267. 

Bramhall,  dial  at,  275. 

Branksea  Castle,  dial  at,  383. 
Briar-candy,  313-314. 

Bridal  Roses,  365. 

Bridges  of  verge-watches,  226-227. 
British  Museum,  portable  dials  at,  135. 
Brockenhurst,  armillary  sphere  dial  at, 
14 1,  142. 

Bronze  Age,  relics  of,  81. 

Biooklyn,  dial  in,  20-21,  293. 

Broom  of  Plantagenets,  321. 

Brou,  dial  at,  228  et  seq. 

Brougham,  Countess,  pillar  at,  289- 
290. 

Brougham  Hall,  dial  at,  266. 

Broughton  Castle,  dial  at,  276. 

Buddha,  371. 

Burgundy  Roses,  234,  352  et  seq. 
Burnet-leaved  Rose,  340. 
Burning-glasses,  382. 

Burns,  Robert,  dialling  studied  by,  93. 
Burnside,  Miss  H.  M.  F.,  Roses  and 
dial  of,  234. 

Burr,  Rose,  340. 

Butterfly  on  window-dial,  52. 

Buttress,  dials  on,  71. 

Byrom,  John,  dial  at  home  of,  52. 

Cabbage  Provins  Rose,  341. 

Cadran  &  la  Capucine,  51. 

Cagliostro,  Count,  375. 

Calendar-stone,  of  Mexico,  191-193; 
of  Peru,  192. 

California,  dials  in,  67-69,  273;  Roses 
in,  309. 

Camden,  William,  quoted,  325. 

Candle,  by  inch  of,  55. 

Candle-clocks,  55. 

Cannon  as  pedestal,  49. 


Index 


Cannon-dials,  49  et  seq.;  of  Sultan  of 
Morocco,  48,  49. 

Canon’s  Ashby,  dial  at,  268. 

Canterbury,  dial  at,  217. 

Canton,  clepsydra  in,  54. 

Cardinal  points,  among  Indians,  194; 
among  Mexicans,  194-196. 

Carlisle,  pillar-dial  at,  388. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  cited,  366,  375,  384 ; 
quoted,  366,  391. 

Casket-dial,  153  et  seq. 

Castellated  and  Domestic  Architecture 
of  Scotland,  61  et  seq. 

Castleberg,  natural  dial  at,  37,  38. 

Cato,  cited,  298. 

Ceiling-dials,  45  et  seq.  See  Spot  Dials, 
Reflective  Dials. 

Celibacy,  vows  of,  400. 

Centennial  Exposition,  dial  at,  88,  89, 
90,  92. 

Chalice-dial,  152-153. 

Chamber  of  Perfection,  498. 

Chaplets,  297  et  seq. 

Charing  Cross,  379. 

Charles  I,  sun-dials  of,  80,  114,  115. 

Charles  II,  sun-dial  of,  115-119;  a  Free 
Mason,  380. 

Chartres,  dial  at,  18,  292,  346. 

Chatelaine-dial,  148-149. 

Chaucer,  quoted,  121,  274;  on  astro¬ 
labe,  132-134 ;  Romaunt  of  the  Rose, 
385  et  seq.;  a  Lflllardite,  387. 

Cheshire,  England,  dials  in,  49,  169, 
173,  256,  272,  275,  386. 

Chester,  Rev.  G.  J.,  mottoes  by,  233, 
271-272. 

Chilindre,  history  of,  121-125;  con¬ 
struction  of,  125-128. 

Chimney,  dial  on,  67. 

China  Roses,  354. 

Chinese,  verses  of,  30,  54 ;  clepsydras 
of,  54;  incense  sticks  in,  54;  time 
divisions  of,  54;  compass  of,  157; 
stop-short  in,  157;  astronomy  in, 
157;  book  of,  186;  dial-pedestals, 
209;  potpourri  of,  315. 

Chiswick,  dial  at,  231. 


449 

Christian  Science  in  fifteenth  century, 
385- 

Clepsydra,  invention  of,  53  et  seq.; 
in  Chinese  verse,  54;  in  Canton, 
55;  in  Madagascar,  56;  in  France, 
57 ;  in  Athens,  58 ;  of  Holbein, 
104. 

Clifford,  Anne,  pillar-dials  of,  284-290. 
Clocks,  in  China,  56;  of  Holbein,  104. 
Clumber,  armillary  sphere-dial  at,  142. 
Coates,  Henry  T.,  dial  of,  209-210. 
Coat-of-arms,  royal,  169. 

Cocalico,  settlement  on,  408  et  seq. 
Cock,  significance  of,  183. 

Cockatoo  in  city,  20. 

Cognizants,  177,  320. 

Coleridge,  Sara,  cited,  375. 

Collinson  corresponds  with  Bartram, 
407- 

Color,  significance  of,  179-180. 
Columbine  as  dial  design,  200-202. 
Columbus,  Christopher,  text-books 
read  by,  382. 

Column  dials.  See  Chilindre. 
Confucius,  cited,  186,  187. 

Congress  House,  Washington,  43. 
Conserve  of  Roses,  310. 
Constantinople,  anemoscope  at,  58 ; 

dials  in,  85-86. 

Cooks  of  Richard  II,  312. 

Copenhagen,  dials  in,  227. 

Corbels,  dials  on,  62,  71. 

Cornaro,  Frederick,  emblem  of,  176. 
Corner-dials,  69  et  seq. 

Cornwall,  dials  in,  281. 

Coronation  Chair,  379-380. 

Coronation  Stone,  379-380. 

Coqjus  Christi  College,  Kratzer  at,  104 ; 

dial  at,  109  et  seq. 

Costorphine,  dial  at,  71. 

Countess  of  Pembroke’s  pillar,  286- 
290. 

Cover-grounds,  362-363. 

Cowper,  quoted,  347. 

Cremer,  John,  325,  378. 

Cresset  stone  at  Lewannick  Church, 

66. 


450 


Index 


Crest,  defined,  176. 

Crocuses,  30-31. 

Cromarty,  dial  at,  14. 

Cross,  as  a  symbol,  196,  371. 
Cross-dials,  78,  88,  144,  280-285. 
Crosses,  dials  on,  62,  71  et  seq .,  74, 
179, 379 ;  in  market-places,  71  etseq., 
179- 

Crumbs,  bread,  flowers  made  of,  310. 
Crystal  of  Kelpins,  401,  402. 
Cubby-houses,  438. 

Cumberland,  dials  in,  72  et  seq. 

Cure  of  Old  Age,  382. 

Currency,  of  United  States,  21 ;  of  New 
York,  23. 

Cylinder  dials.  See  Chilindre. 
Cylindrical  dials,  88. 

Cynorrhodon,  3x1. 

Daisies  around  dial,  233. 

Damask  Roses,  303,  309,  349  et  seq., 
365- 

Dam  liable  hum,  316-317. 

Dandelion,  4. 

Danish  relics,  81,  194,  195. 

Dante,  378 ;  a  Rosicrucian,  387. 

Dante's  Amor,  16,  292. 

Darnley,  needlework  imprese  of,  174. 
Dartmoor,  dial  at,  228. 

Death’s  head  on  dials,  228,  230,  270. 
Declining  dials,  88. 

Dee,  Dr.,  a  dialler,  104. 

Delhi,  dial  at,  86. 

De  Quincey  on  Rosicrucianism,  382. 
Derbyshire,  dials  in,  64,  65. 

Detached  dials,  74  et  seq. 

Device,  320. 

Dialling,  defined,  87,  89;  taught  in 
school,  90  et  seq.;  books  on,  135. 
Dickens,  Charles,  dial  of,  214. 
Dickinson,  Emily,  quoted,  27. 

Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  311,  350. 

Dijon,  dial  at,  229. 

Dipleidoscope,  291. 

District  of  Columbia,  laying  out  of,  42 

et  seq. 

District  schools,  430. 


Divina  Commedia,  387. 

Dobson,  Austin,  quoted,  17,  274. 

Dog-fennel  in  Indiana,  423-424. 

Dog  Roses,  31 1. 

Donne,  Dr.,  quoted,  199. 

Dorsetshire,  dials  in,  369,  370. 

Dow,  Lorenzo,  424  et  seq. 

Dragon  gnomon,  416. 

Drayton,  cited,  323. 

Dresden  Museum,  portable  dials  in, 
133- 

Dress  of  diallers,  397,  398. 

Dromore  Castle,  sun-dial  on,  269. 

Drummond,  Sir  William,  quoted,  320. 

Drumthwacket,  dial  at,  245. 

Dryden,  Sir  Henry,  cited,  82,  83;  dial 
of,  268. 

Ducher,  Hans,  dials  of,  1491 et  seq. 

Dundas  Castle,  dial  of,  78. 

Dundee,  Scotland,  dial  at,  77,  78. 

Durham  Cathedral,  noon-mark  at,  45. 

Duryea,  Samuel  Bowne,  dials  of,  20-21. 

Dutch  love  of  Tulips,  202  et  seq. 

Edinburgh,  dials  at,  69,  70,  71. 

Edward  I,  emblem  of,  321-322 ;  a  Rosi¬ 
crucian,  378  et  seq. 

Edward  IV,  recipe  of,  310;  victory 
of,  323 ;  on  English  history  of  the 
Roses,  322  et  seq. 

Edward  VI,  emblem  of,  330. 

Eglantine,  303,  313. 

Egypt,  lamps  of,  2 ;  dials  in,  37. 

Eleanor  of  Provence,  323. 

Electuary  of  Roses,  31 1. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  carnation  garment 
of,  172-173. 

Ellicott,  George,  dials  of,  24. 

Elm  Hirst,  dial  at,  45,  49. 

Elmley  Castle,  dials  at,  74. 

Emblem,  defined,  164, 165  ;  of  Geoffrey 
Whitney,  164,  165,  185;  in  France, 
167;  in  Shakespeare,  166  ;  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  167  et  seq.;  reli¬ 
gions,  166;  of  the  Rosicrucians, 
371;  of  Lady  Drury,  174  ;  the  Rose 
as  an,  319 ;  of  Louise  de  Valdemont, 


Index 


45 1 


175-176 1  of  9Hr  Philip  Sidney,  176; 
of  Bishop  of  Padua,  176;  of  mysti¬ 
cal  religions,  184 ;  of  Aztecs,  190  et 
seq. ;  of  Rose,  371  et  seq. ;  of  Cross, 
371  et  seq. 

Embroidery  work  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  168  et  seq. 

Enfield  Old  House,  dial  at,  215,  231. 

Ephrata,  406,  408,  409,  410. 

Equation  of  time,  contrivance  for 
showing  on  dial,  50. 

Equatorial  dials,  88. 

Equinoctial  dials.  See  Equatorial 
Dials. 

Erasmus,  quoted,  406. 

Essex,  dial  in,  420. 

Essington,  R.  W.,  cross-dials  of,  281. 

Evans,  Lewis,  Russel  Farm,  Watford, 
England,  dials  of,  104  et  seq.,  123, 
124,  125,  129,  130,  132;  cited,  276- 
278;  collections  in  family  of,  134- 
135- 

Evelyn,  John,  quoted,  47,  48 ;  cited,  119. 

Exeter  Museum,  dial  at,  140. 

Eyam,  dial  on  church,  64,  65,  187,  188 ; 
tragic  story  of,  65,  66 

Facet-headed  dials,  78  et  seq.,  271. 

Fairfield,  Conn.,  dial  at,  236. 

Fairy  Rose,  234,  354  et  seq. 

Faith,  natural,  of  Dr.  Flood,  385. 

Fawcett,  Edgar,  quoted,  348. 

Feast  brothers,  quoted,  344. 

Fenwick,  Scotland,  dial  at,  93. 

Ferguson,  James,  quoted,  126  et  seq.; 
biography  of,  129  et  seq.;  dials  of, 
126  et  seq.;  rules  of,  126-128. 

Ferns  as  “  cover-grounds,"  363-364. 

Fielding,  Betty  Washington,  dial  of,  249. 

Fifeshire,  dials  in,  80,  81,  281  et  seq. 

Figs,  as  a  poultice,  393  etseq. 

Filippo  et  Haves,  dial  of,  151. 

Fingask  Castle,  dial  at,  174. 

Finger-rings  with  dials,  137. 

Fire-towers,  183. 

Fire-worship,  183. 

Fish-skin  covers  for  dials,  144. 


Fitzgerald,  Edward,  quoted,  57. 

Fixed  dials,  87. 

Flame-fanes,  183. 

Flat-irons  of  wood,  410. 

Fleming,  Albert,  memorial  dial  of,  290. 
Flights,  of  Carlyle,  375. 

Flood,  Dr.  Rott,  384  et  seq. 

Floral  dials,  199,  200. 

Floralia,  301. 

Floral  Park,  dial  at,  209. 

Florence,  portable  dials  in  museum, 

13S-136. 

Florio,  quoted,  225. 

Flowers  a  true  lover’s  gift,  412-413. 

Fly  painted  on  window-dials,  52. 
Foot-washings,  409. 

Form  of  Cury,  312  et  seq. 

Fountain,  dial  set  in,  76. 

Fountain  Hall,  dial  at,  62. 

Fountain  la  Val,  351. 

Four  seasons,  197,  198,  218. 

France,  Rosicrucianism  in,  373  et  seq., 
376  et  seq.,  392  et  seq. 

Francis  I,  imprese  of,  170. 
Frankenstein,  382. 

Frankford  Arsenal,  dial  at,  49-50. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  as  designer  of  cur¬ 
rency,  22  ;  way-wiser  of,  48 ;  inter¬ 
est  in  dials,  22,  408;  founds  Am. 
Phil.  Assn.,  408. 

Franklin  cent,  21. 

Fredericksburg,  Va.,  dial  at,  253. 

Free  Masonry,  380,  381. 

Freestone  for  dials,  207. 

Friar  Bacon.  See  Bacon,  Roger. 
Friends’  Burying-ground,  21 1. 

Fritillary,  6. 

Fry,  Mr.,  collection  of,  135. 

Fugio  dollar,  21. 

Fuller,  Thomas,  quoted,  114,  297,  327, 
371,  384,  385. 

Furness,  H.  H.,  dial  of,  241. 

Fylfot.  See  Swastika. 

Gadshill,  dial  at,  214. 

Gardener's  and  Botanist’s  Dictionary , 

333- 


452 


Index 


Gardener's  Garters,  237. 

Garden  of  Esperance,  328. 

Garlands,  297  et  seq. 

Gatty,  Mrs.,  cited,  84,  134,  135,  252,  253. 

Gazel,  358. 

Genoa,  dial  upon  cathedral,  14,  292. 

Gerarde,  John,  quoted,  241,  305,  318, 

359- 

Germantown,  dials  in,  211-212,  224- 
225,  267,  270,  271. 

Germany,  Rosicrucians,  367,  369,  398 
et  seq.,  408. 

Ghazal,  358. 

Gibbons,  Grinling,  dial  carved  by,  216. 

Glamis  Castle,  dial  of,  3  et  seq. 

Glanville,  quoted,  8. 

Glasgow,  Earl  of,  dial  of,  75-76. 

Glass  globes  as  dials,  116,  117,  142. 

Globe  dials,  88,  116,  1x7,  141-142.  See 
Armillary  sphere-dials. 

Glue,  flowers  made  of,  310. 

Glycera,  courtship  of,  299  et  seq. 

Gnomons,  primitive,  36^ seq.;  angel’s 
wing,  64 ;  varied  shapes,  80 ;  of  co¬ 
lossal  size,  86;  importance  of,  101 
et  seq.,  226  et  seq. ;  horns,  116  ;  stars, 
116;  Flower  de  Luce,  1 17 ;  defined, 
225  et  seq. ;  globe,  228  ;  bird’s  wing, 
228;  dragon,  228,  416;  blacksmith’s 
arm,  230-231. 

Goblet  dial,  152-153. 

Gold  made  by  alchemy,  368,  397. 

Gold  of  Ophir  Roses,  319. 

Gold-Cooks,  366. 

Gower,  John,  a  Rosicrucian,  387. 

Gower,  Lord  Ronald,  dial-motto  of, 
276. 

Gravetye  Manor,  dial  at,  321. 

Great  Brington,  dials  at,  26,  179,  181. 

Grooms,  in  Rosicrucian  Society,  370. 

Gros  Provins  Panachees,  342. 

Guide-boards,  181,  182. 

Gunpowder,  invention  of,  382. 

Haddonfield,  N.J.,  dial  at,  210,  211. 

Hafiz,  quoted,  358,  359. 

Hagenmark,  315. 


Hagioscope,  84. 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  cited,  15. 

Hall,  Father  Francis,  dial  of,  115-119. 
Halley,  Edward,  inventions  of,  1x3  et 
seq. 

Hampshire  Court,  dial  at,  216. 

Hardy,  Thomas,  cited,  246. 

Harlestone  House,  Northants,  dial  at, 
218,  219. 

Harrison  Roses,  338,  339,  340. 
Hartford,  Conn.,  dial  at,  239. 

Harvard  University,  dial  at,  294. 
Hawthorn  as  an  emblem,  327. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  cited,  294. 
Hayes,  James  Russell,  quoted,  364- 
365- 

Hazard,  Rowland,  G.,  dial  of,  67. 
Hedgehog  Rose,  336. 

Hegge,  Robert,  quoted,  1,  107-108. 
Heidelberg,  Rosicrucians  in,  408. 
Heliotrope  of  Gilbert  White,  232. 
Hemicycle,  84. 

Hemispherum,  84. 

Hemstead,  needlework  at,  174. 
Henrietta  Maria,  dial  of,  80;  cook-book 
of,  31 1  et  seq. 

Henry  IV,  325. 

Henry  VII,  emblem  of,  327. 

Henry  VIII,  horologer  of,  \o\etseq.; 
sun-dial  of,  106;  horologium  of, 
hi  ;  coins  of,  326;  emblem  of,  327. 
Heraldry,  for  emblems,  175 ;  for  sun¬ 
dials,  175-176. 

Herballs,  296. 

Herbert,  George,  quoted,  296,  304. 
Herb-Johns,  three,  297. 

Herbs,  sweet-scented,  around  dial,  238. 
Herculaneum,  portable  dial  from,  124. 
Heriot’s  Hospital,  dials  at,  71. 
Hexagonal  dials,  118. 

Hindoos,  god  of,  371. 

Hinkley,  Leicester,  state  bed  at,  170. 
Historic  of  the  World.  Chapter  XIII. 
Hogarth,  his  flower-show  ticket,  364; 
dial  in  picture,  270. 

Holbein,  Hans,  Ambassadors,  78; 
friend  of  Kratzer,  104;  portrait  of, 


Index 


453 


104;  time-meter  of,  104;  dials  of, 
104 ;  clepsydra  of,  104. 

Holland  House,  armillary  sphere-dial 
at,  142. 

Holland,  love  of  Tulips  in,  202  et  seq. 

Holland,  Philemon,  translation  of,  297 
et  seq. 

Hollyhocks,  around  dial,  249. 

Holmes,  Dr.  O.  W.,  on  coincidences, 
390  et  seq. 

Holy  Hermit,  375. 

Holyrood  Castle,  dial  at,  79,  174,  232; 
garden  at,  174. 

Home  established  by  the  Puritans,  412. 

Honestone  dial,  204. 

Honey  of  Roses,  31 1. 

Honeysuckle  around  dial,  234. 

Hooke,  Robert,  dials  of,  1x4. 

Horace,  cited,  3. 

Horizontal  dials,  8r. 

Horologiograpkia  Optica,  270. 

Horologium  Achaz,  393  et  seq. 

Horoscopes,  107,  403. 

Hour-bowls,  57. 

Hour-glass,  charm  of,  5;  first  made, 
58. 

Howard,  John,  cited,  279. 

Howard,  Katherine,  emblem  of,  330. 

Hudibras,  quoted,  274,  275. 

Humphrey,  Sir  William,  dial  of,  26,  29. 

Hundred-leaved  Rose,  358  et  seq.,  360, 
365- 

Hunt,  Leigh,  quoted,  199. 

I  luntercombe  Manor,  dials  at,  210-212. 

Hwaetred,  cross  of,  73. 

Impreses,  168-170,  320. 

Incense-sticks,  54,  55. 

Inclining  dial,  88. 

Index.  See  Gnomon. 

India,  primitive  dials  in,  36 ;  stave-dials 
in,  125;  astrolabe  in,  131;  signs  of 
zodiac,  190. 

Indiana,  stocked  with  apples,  422  et 
seq.;  with  dog-fennel,  423-424. 

Indians,  194.  See  also  Aztec  and  Mex¬ 
ico. 


Indra,  the  god,  371. 

Inner  Temple,  dial  of,  23,  171. 

Ireland,  dials  in,  39,  280;  Coronation 
Stone  in,  380. 

Ireland,  William  de,  work  of,  379. 
Iron,  the  product  of  powers  of  darkness, 
410. 

Isaiah,  miracle  of,  391,  393. 

Italy,  time  divisions  in,  116. 

Ivory  dials,  121,  125,  146,  147. 

Ivy  Lodge,  dial  at,  270,  271. 

Jacob’s  Pillow,  379. 

Jacquin,  334. 

James  I,  his  love  of  emblems,  167; 

coins  of,  326;  emblem  of,  331,  332. 
Japanese  Ivy,  209,  210. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  letter  to,  43;  letter 
of,  91-92. 

Jeffries,  Richard,  cited,  27. 

Jenkins,  Charles  F.,  dial  of,  224-225. 
Jewell  House  of  Art  and  Nature,  305 
et  seq. 

Jewish  hours  on  dial,  116. 

Jeypore,  dials  at,  83,  86. 

Joan  Silverpin,  241,  338. 

Johnson,  cited,  302. 

Jones,  Dr.,  scatters  apple  trees,  421  et 
seq. 

Jonson,  Ben,  quoted,  30;  letter  to, 
167-168. 

Josephine,  Empress,  Roses  of,  334,  342. 
Judd,  Sylvester,  cited,  32  et  seq.; 

quoted,  33,  34,  35. 

June  Rose,  335-337- 
Jurisdiction  Stones,  42. 

Kalendar.  See  Chilindre. 

Katherine  of  Aragon,  needlework  of, 
174 ;  emblem  of,  327,  328. 

Kelburn  House,  dial  at,  6,  75  et  seq. 
Kelly,  Sir  Edward,  an  alchemist,  371. 
Kelpius,  Magister,  399  et  seq. 

Kenmore,  dial  at,  249. 

Kensington,  portable  dials  at,  135. 
Kensington  Museum,  bronze  trumpet 
in,  192. 


454 


Index 


Kent,  Mr.,  collection  of,  135. 

Kerry,  dial  in,  269. 

Kersall  Cell,  window-dial  at,  52,  53. 

Kissing  comfits,  315. 

Knox,  John,  dial  of,  69-70. 

Kratzer,  Nicholas,  103  et  seq.;  portrait 
of,  104 ;  portable  dial  by,  104  et  seq. ; 
dial  for  Henry  VIII,  106;  drawing 
of  this  dial,  107;  Hegge's  descrip¬ 
tions  of  dial,  107,  108 ;  dial  at  St. 
Mary's  College,  109. 

Labadists,  403. 

Labrador  Indians,  primitive  dial  of, 

36. 

Ladies’  Delights,  29. 

Ladylands  House,  dial  at,  78. 

Lalla  Rookh,  359. 

Lamb,  Charles,  quoted,  8,  9,  15,  16. 

Lambeth  Palace,  window-dial  at,  52, 

Lamoine,  351. 

Lamps,  2. 

Lanceston,  dial  and  cresset  stone  at, 

66. 

Landor,  W.  S.,  cited  on  color,  179-180 ; 
motto  by,  274. 

Lapland,  Roses  of,  337. 

Lasserers,  329. 

Lawn-roller  as  pedestal,  215. 

Lawson  Rose,  346. 

Leadbetter,  mottoes  from,  51. 

Leather  man,  424. 

Lectern-shaped  dials,  76  et  seq. 

Leicestershire,  dials  in,  81. 

Lelant  Church,  gnomon  on,  227,  228. 

Le  Maire,  dials  of,  143,  144,  151. 

L’Enfant,  plan  of,  42. 

Lens-dials,  49  et  seq.,  117. 

Lewannick,  dial  and  cresset  stone  at 
church,  66. 

Leybourne,  books  of,  46,  88,  1x5;  de¬ 
signs  of,  46 ;  rules  of,  46,  94 ;  dial 
of,  88  ;  quoted,  119. 

Liberty  Tea,  422. 

Lichgates,  dials  on,  71. 

Life,  prolongation  of,  368. 

Ltliwati,  56. 


Linburn  House,  Midlothian,  dials  at, 
76,  271. 

Lincolnshire,  England,  dials  in,  198. 
Lindfield,  Sussex,  dial  at,  220-222,  226, 
276. 

Lindley,  quoted,  358. 

Little  Brington,  Northants,  dial  at,  177- 

179. 

Little  Burgundy  Rose,  353-354. 

Livery  of  seisin,  182. 

Logan  House,  dial  at,  269  et  seq. 
Loggan's  Views  of  English  Universi¬ 
ties ■,  109. 

Lollard,  a  Rosicrucian,  387. 

London,  dial  on  post-office, 22-23  1  dials 
for,  125  et  seq. 

Longfellow,  quoted,  279. 

Longshanks,  321. 

Lotus,  as  dial  design,  198-199. 
Loughborough,  dial  at,  217. 

Louise  de  Valdemont,  emblem  of,  175- 
176. 

Love-feasts,  409. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  quoted,  163, 
248. 

Lower  Harlestone,  Northants,  corner 
dials  at,  71. 

Luck-circles,  81. 

Lully,  Raymond,  alchemist,  325  et  seq., 
378. 

Luxembourg  Roses,  362. 

Lynn,  market  cross  in,  386. 
Lyre-shaped  dial,  151. 

Macaroons,  316. 

Macbeth,  3. 

Madame  Plantier  Rose,  346,  348  et 
seq. 

Magic  in  dialling  108  et  seq. 
Maidenhead,  dials  at,  212-214. 
Maiden’s  Blush  Rose,  347  et  seq. 
Malays,  foot  measure  of,  53. 

Mallow  family,  249. 

Malmaison,  Roses  at,  334,  342. 
Manchester,  dial  at,  52,  53. 

Manz  dial,  motto  of,  32. 

Marble  for  dials,  206  et  seq.,  279-280. 


Index 


455 


Mare  Island,  Cal.,  dial  at,  273. 

Margaret,  32-35. 

Marie  Antoinette,  her  proposed  escape 
to  America,  351  et  seq. 

Market  crosses,  71  et  seq.,  374,  386. 

Market-places,  dials  in,  71  et  seq. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  dial  of,  25-26; 
quoted,  25-26. 

Martock,  pillar-dial  at,  381. 

Mary  Queen  of  England,  emblem  of, 
330.  331- 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  her  love  of 
emblems,  167,  321 ;  needlework 
of,  167-174;  embroidery  materials 
of,  172;  dial  of,  174;  love  of  flowers, 
174. 

Masonic  dials,  77  et  seq. 

Masques  of  James  I  and  Charles  I,  389. 

Mather,  Cotton,  quoted,  372. 

Matthai,  Conrad,  406. 

May  Roses,  337. 

Mechanical  Dialling,  125  etseq. 

Memnomites,  403. 

Memorial  Rose,  299. 

Merchantsville,  N.J.,  dial  in,  63. 

Meridian  Hill,  43. 

Meridian  lines,  39  et  seq. 

Meridian  Stone,  43-44. 

Mexico,  time  division  in,  190;  calendar 
stone  in,  191 ;  signs  of  zodiac  in, 
190;  sun  worship  in,  191  et  seq.; 
cardinal  points,  195-196;  marbles 
of,  207 ;  Eve  of,  372. 

Michigan  Rose,  344. 

Mickley,  Gen.  P.  J.,  dial  of.  88,  89,  90, 
92. 

Midas,  King,  garden  of,  372. 

Midcalder  House,  dial  at,  78. 

Middlesex,  dials  in,  215-216. 

Midlothian,  dials  of,  71,  78,  271,  285. 

Milan,  motto  on  dial,  32. 

Milestones,  9. 

Miletus,  Rose  of,  302. 

Millennium,  coming  of,  404,  405. 

Miller,  Hugh,  quoted,  14 ;  dial  of,  14-15. 

Miller's  Gardener's  Dictionary,  333  et 
seq. 


Millrigy,  dial  at,  270-271. 

Milton  influenced  by  Rosicrucianism, 
389- 

Minarets,  183. 

Minster  Lovell,  squint  at,  83. 

Miracle  of  Isaiah,  391. 

Mission  in  California,  dial  at,  67-68. 
Mitchell,  H.  R.,  rules  for  constructing 
dials  by,  95  et  seq. 

Mompesson,  heroism  of,  65, 66. 
Monaco,  lens-dial  at,  50. 
Money-in-both-pockets,  337. 

Monoliths,  183. 

Moor,  as  pedestal,  215,  216. 

Moor  Park,  dial  at,  279-280. 

Moore,  Thomas,  quoted,  359. 

Moot  Hall,  10,  64. 

Moral  cards,  404. 

Morgan  cited,  270. 

Morgen-Rothe,  400-402. 

Morocco,  Sultan's  dial,  48,  49. 
Morristown,  N.J.,  portable  dial  at,  148. 
Moss  Roses,  359-361,  365. 

Moulds  for  making  dials,  24. 

Mount  Auburn  cemetery,  dial  at,  295. 
Mount  Melville,  dial  at,  80-81. 

Mount  Vernon,  Roses  at,  297. 

Munich,  sun-dial  at,  409. 

Munster,  treatise  by,  106. 

Muskechives,  315. 

Mysticism  in  Pennsylvania,  398  et  seq. 

Natural  dials,  34  et  seq. 

Neaum  Crag,  dial  at,  290. 

Needlework,  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 
168  et  seq.;  of  Water  Poet,  170;  of 
Tulips,  202  et  seq. 

Neidpath  Castle,  dial  at,  78. 

New  Hampshire,  Roses  in,  336. 

New  Haven,  dials  at,  292,  254,  295. 
New  Quay,  dial  at,  281. 

New  York,  currency  of,  22,  23. 
Newhall,  Penicuik,  dial  at,  285. 
Newington,  dial  at,  273. 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  dials  of,  45  et  seq. 
Noble.  See  Rose  Noble. 

Nocturnal  dials,  88,  147. 


4  56 


Index 


Noon-marks,  35  et  seq.  See  also  Merid¬ 
ian  Lines. 

Northamptonshire,  dials  in,  26,  66,  67, 
71, 178, 179,  268 ;  sun-circles  in,  81 ; 
squints  in,  82-83 !  Queen’s  cross  in, 
377.  379- 

North-hill,  Bedfordshire,  window-dial 
at,  52. 

Norway,  natural  dials  in,  39. 

Notre  Dame,  signs  of  zodiac  on,  190. 

Nuremberg,  portable  dials  of,  133,  144, 
145.  149- 

Oak  as  food  and  drink,  410. 

Oakley  Park,  dial  in,  141. 

Obelisks,  183;  as  gnomons,  39;  at 
Washington,  43. 

Obelisk-shaped  dials,  75  et  seq.,  271. 

Observatory,  first  in  the  colonies,  403. 

Octahedral  dials,  129,  145. 

Odometer,  47.  See  Waywiser. 

Old  Place,  Lindfield,  dial  at,  222,  226, 
276. 

Onyx  for  dials,  207. 

Ophir  Farm,  dial  at,  185  et  seq. 

Opyn-tide,  29. 

Orienting  a  dial,  88. 

Oughtred,  William,  works  of,  46 ;  biog¬ 
raphy  of,  1 12  et  seq. 

Oxford,  dials  at,  109,  no,  in, 

Oxfordshire,  dials  in,  198. 

Packer  Institute,  dial  at,  293. 

Padua  Church,  signs  of  zodiac  on,  190. 

Paquerette  Roses,  234. 

Parkinson,  John,  quoted,  305,  359. 

Parley,  Peter,  424. 

Parr,  Katherine,  emblem  of,  330. 

Parsees,  flame-fanes  of,  183. 

Patience,  350. 

Pausias,  courtship  of,  299. 

Peace  Dale,  R.I.,  dial  at,  67. 

Peach,  double,  244-246. 

Peacock,  Dr.,  quoted,  59. 

Pedestal,  a  pole,  239 ;  stone  from  battle¬ 
field,  230  ;  stones  from  beach,  231  ; 
gate-post,  235 ;  Pompeian  talk,  222 ; 


stone  roller,  214 ;  bridge  pillar,  214- 
215  ;  tomb  as,  212-213  ;  terra-cotta, 
208  ;  Japanese  vase  as,  209. 

Pelham  buckle,  177,  321. 

Pelton,  Somersetshire,  memorial  dial 
at,  293-294. 

Penecuik,  dial  at,  285. 

Penmanship,  importance  of,  205. 

Pennsylvania,  dial-making  in,  24 ; 
charm  of  its  settlement,  402 ;  liberty 
of  conscience  in,  398  ;  Rosicrucian- 
ism  in,  398  et  seq. 

Pennsylvania  Dutch,  Tulips  among, 
203. 

Pennsylvania  Pilgrim,  402. 

Pentagonal  dials,  118. 

Pepys,  Samuel,  quoted,  317. 

Perambulator.  See  Waywiser. 

Perlachthurm,  398,  405. 

Perpendicular  forms,  beauty  of,  248. 

Persian  Yellow  Roses,  338. 

Perthshire,  Scotland,  dial  in,  174,  230. 

Peru,  calendar-stone  of,  192  ;  cardinal 
points,  195  ;  Eve  of,  372. 

Petersfield,  dial  at,  67. 

Pewter,  dials  of,  23-25  ;  teapot  of, 
203. 

Pewterer’s  lists,  23. 

Phaidros,  dial  of,  85. 

Phantasmion,  375. 

Philadelphia,  dial  near,  49  ;  dial  at,  88, 
89, 90, 92,218, 280, 393 ;  Rosicrucians 
in,  400  et  seq. 

Philosopher's  Stone,  113,  368,  370-371, 
382,  404. 

Pilgrims,  400  et  seq.,  406. 

Pillar-dials,  fixed,  286,  287,  288,  289. 

Pillar-dials,  portable.  See  Chilindre. 

Pine  trees  around  dials,  246  et  seq.; 
voice  of,  246-248. 

Plague  in  Eyam,  65,  66. 

Plat,  Sir  Hugh,  quoted,  305  et  seq. 

Pliny,  quoted,  39,  243,  296 ;  translation 
of,  296  et  seq.  See  Chapter  XIII. 

Pococke,  Bishop,  quoted,  38. 

Pointer.  See  Gnomon. 

Poke-dials,  120. 


Index 


457 


Polar  dials,  105. 

Pole  as  dial,  36  et  seq.,  229-230. 

Pole  in  ground  as  gnomon,  36. 
Pomanders,  310. 

Pompeii,  anemoscopes  in,  58. 

Pompon  Roses,  234,  354  et  seq. 

Pony  Roses.  See  Fairy  Roses. 

Poole  Harbour,  dial  at,  383. 

Pope,  Alexander,  quoted,  366,  367,  389. 
Poppies  around  dial,  241  et  seq.;  as 
food,  242-243 ;  mystery  of,  243 ; 
arrangement  of,  by  C.  Thaxter, 
243-244. 

Portarium,  120. 

Posies  for  ring-dials,  140. 

Potpourri,  315. 

Potted  Roses,  316. 

Prseneste,  Rose  of,  302. 

Prairie  Roses,  343. 

Princeton,  N.J.,  dials  at,  245,  290,  294, 
421. 

Prize  for  dials,  225. 

Proclining  dials,  83,  88. 

Provencal  literature,  387. 

Provence  Rose,  302,  341. 

Provins  Rose,  341,  342. 

Purple  Bouquet  Rose,  340  et  seq. 
Purple  Velvet  Rose,  341  et  seq. 

Puvis  de  Chavannes,  376. 

Pyramids,  183. 

Pyrenean  dial.  See  Chilindre. 

Quadrant  of  C.  Schissler,  396,  397, 
399.  401.  403- 

Quadrantal  dials,  88,  150,  151. 

Quarlfes,  Francis,  quoted,  163 ;  Em¬ 
blems  of,  166,  275,  276. 

Queen  Eleanor’s  cross,  377,  379. 

Queen  Mary’s  dial,  79-80. 

Queen's  Closet  Opened,  311  et  seq. 
Queen’s  Delight,  311. 

Quiver-dials,  85. 

Raised  work,  171. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  311,  317. 

Ramsay,  Allen,  memorial  to,  285. 

Rape  of  the  Lock ,  366,  389. 


Reclining  dials,  86,  116. 

Rectifying  a  dial,  88. 

Redoute,  P.  J.,  333  et  seq.;  cited,  341, 
342,  353.  354- 

Reflective  dials,  45  et  seq.,  88,  116. 
See  also  Spot-dials  and  Ceiling- 
dials. 

Refractive  dials,  52,  53,  88,  393. 

Reid,  Hon.  Whitelaw,  dial  of,  185,  186, 
188. 

Reinmann,  Paul,  dials  of,  150. 

Rembaults,  Arthur,  quoted,  179. 

Reminding  stones,  183. 

Reserve  among  New  Englanders,  41 1 
et  seq. 

Ribbon-grass  around  dial,  235  et  seq.; 
sentiment  about,  236-237. 

Richard  II,  cook-book  of,  312  et  seq.; 
2000  cooks  of,  312. 

Richard  III,  emblem  ofj  326. 

Ring-dials,  120,  136-141. 

Ripley,  Sir  George,  an  alchemist,  371. 

Robert  the  Searcher,  alchemy  of,  371. 

Robertson,  T.  S.,  drawings  by,  281- 
284. 

Robin's  Island,  dial  at,  21. 

Robinson,  William,  roses  in  garden  of, 
321. 

Rochambeau,  pocket-dial  of,  143. 

Rolls  with  poppy  seed,  242-243. 

Romans,  time  divisions  of,  73. 

Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  385  et  seq. 

Rome,  lamps  of,  2;  obelisk  in,  39; 
dials  in,  39,  84,  136;  noon-mark 
at,  39;  anemoscopes  in,  58;  poppy- 
cakes  in,  243;  garlands  in,  299 
et  seq. ;  roses  of,  302  et  seq. 

Ronsard,  quoted,  274. 

Rosa  Alba,  347-348. 

Rosa  Centifolia,  302,  341. 

Rosa  Cinnamonea,  337. 

Rosa  Gallica,  302,  341. 

Rosa  Grcecula,  302. 

Rosa  Grevillei,  356-358. 

Rosa  Luc  Ida,  343. 

Rosa  Majalis,  337. 

Rosa  pumilla,  341. 


458  Index 


Rosa  Rubifolia,  343  et  seq. 

Rosa  Rugosa,  315,  336. 

Rosa  Si  Ives  tr  is,  303. 

Rosa  Solis ,  316-317. 

Rosamond  Rose,  342. 

Rose  arches  at  Twin  Oaks,  314. 

Rose-cakes,  307. 

Rose-conserves,  310,  312. 

Rose-cordial,  311. 

Rose  d' Amour,  343. 

Rose  en  soliel,  323. 

Rose-hips,  313-3 15. 

Rose-leaves  dried,  303,  307,  310. 

Rose-lohochs,  31 1. 

Rose-noble,  324  et  seq. 

Rose  of  Rouen,  324. 

Rose-plate,  315. 

Rose-still,  3 1 1. 

Rose-troches,  311. 

Rose  vinegar,  308. 

Rose-water,  308,  311. 

Rosee,  313. 

Roses  for  English  gardens,  335. 

Roses  set  around  dials,  234-235 ;  for¬ 
mality  of  garlands,  300;  as  medi¬ 
cines,  302  et  seq.  ;  of  ancient  Rome, 
302  et  seq. ;  culture  of,  303 ;  rules  for 
drying,  307-308  ;  for  distilling,  308- 
309;  for  preserving,  309-310;  for 
conserving,  310;  old-fashioned,  as 
an  emblem,  319  et  seq. ;  of  Redoute, 
333.  353.  3541  scattered  by  John 
Holmes,  419  et  seq. 

Rosencreutz,  Christian,  367  et  seq. 

Rosicrucians,  in  Chapter  XVIII ;  also, 
392  et  seq.,  398. 

Rosier  d' Amour,  341. 

Rossetti,  D.  G.,  quoted,  13,  17. 

Rostherne,  dial  in,  173. 

Rouen,  Rose  of,  324. 

Rousseau’s  Bota?iy,  illustrated,  334. 

Rudolphus  II,  waywiser  of,  398. 

Rules  for  making  dials,  91  et  seq.;  126 
et  seq. 

Runic  cross,  in  Eyam,  65. 

Rushton,  Triangular  Lodge  at,  66,  67. 

Ruskin,  cited,  243,  366. 


Saffron  Walden,  dial  at,  420. 

Salisbury  Close,  meridian  line  in,  40. 
Samplers,  174-175. 

San  Juan  Bautista,  dial  at,  273. 
Sand-glasses.  See  Hour-glasses. 
Sandstone,  dials  made  of,  76. 

Santa  Barbara,  Cal.,  dial  at,  67-68. 

Sar  Peladan,  376. 

Saratoga,  N.Y.,  dial  at,  221-223. 
Savage,  arms  of,  74. 

Savoy,  dial  in,  228  et  seq. 

Sawce  Sarzyne,  313. 

Saxon  dial,  18,  81,  82. 

Saxony,  dial  from,  204. 

Schissler,  Christopher,  dials  of,  394, 
395- 

Schneip,  Alexius,  dials  of,  145. 
Schneip,  Ubricus,  dials  of,  145. 

Scotch  Roses,  337  et  seq. 

Scotland,  dials  of,  61  et  seq.;  Corona¬ 
tion  Stone  in,  379-380. 

Scotscraig,  Fifeshire,  dial  at,  281-284. 
Scott,  Ebenezer  Erskine,  dials  of,  271. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  dial  of,  12, 232 ;  cited, 
173- 

Seal-dials,  137. 

Season’s-dial,  188. 

Selborne,  dial  at,  223-224. 

Settle,  natural  dial  at,  37-38. 

Seven  ages  of  man,  194,  196,  197. 
Seven  Sisters  Rose,  356-358,  365. 
Seymour,  Jane,  emblem  of,  329. 
Shagreen,  dial-cases  of,  144. 
Shakespeare,  quoted,  28,  103,  120,  121; 

cited,  166,  231,  240,  275,  322,  389. 
Shakespeare  and  the  Emblem  Writers, 
166. 

Sheepstor  Church,  dial-face  on,  228. 
Shells  worn  by  pilgrims,  406. 
Shenstone  vicarage,  cross-dial  at,  281. 
Shepherd’s-dial.  See  Chilindre. 
Shift-marriage,  182. 

Shillington  Church,  dial  on,  266. 
Ship-dials,  151. 

Shrewsbury,  dial  motto  at,  390. 
Shropshire,  dials  in,  141. 

Sideboard  of  Marie  Antoinette,  352. 


Index 


459 


Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  emblems  of,  176. 
Siena,  seven  ages  of  man  at,  197. 
Sign-boards,  181. 

Signets,  mystic,  404. 

Sinkings,  75. 

Skeleton  as  gnomon,  227-228. 

Smith,  Horace  J.,  dial  given  by,  269 
et  seq.  ;  dial  and  home  of,  271. 

Snow  Pinks  around  dial,  234. 
Snowdrops,  29. 

Snowshoe,  2. 

Soapstone,  mould  of,  24. 

Solarium,  120. 

Soldiers  carry  dials,  153. 

Somerset,  dials  in,  381. 

Souther,  H.,  dial  of,  239. 

Spencer,  Earl,  dials  of,  219,  220. 
Spenser,  Emblems  in,  166;  quoted, 
274;  a  Rosicrucian,  387. 

Spherical  dials,  141  et  seq. 

Spiderwort  as  dial  design,  200-201. 
Spirits,  belief  in,  367. 

Spot-dials,  45.  See  also  Ceiling-dials, 
Reflective  Dials. 

Squinch,  84. 

Squints  and  Dials,  82. 

Squints,  defined,  82-83. 

Stafford  knot,  177. 

St.  John's  Eve,  rites  of,  400,  404. 

St.  Mary's  College,  dial  at,  109. 

Stanley,  Venetia,  350. 

Star-dials,  88. 

Steam-engines,  prophecy  about,  382. 
Steatite,  dial-mould  of,  24. 

Steeples,  183. 

Stenton,  dial  at,  269  et  seq. 

Sterling,  dial  at,  17. 

Stevenson,  R.  L.,  quoted,  166. 

Stile.  See  Gnomon. 

Stone  of  destiny,  380. 

Stone  of  wisdom,  401,  402. 

Stop-short,  54,  358. 

Strathmore,  Earl  of,  home  and  dial  of, 
3  et  seq. 

Strewing  herbs,  310-311. 

Strickland,  Agnes,  cited,  173;  quoted, 
324- 


Striped  Provins  Roses,  342. 

Style  or  Stylus.  See  Gnomon. 

Styria,  dial  made  in,  133,  146. 

Sugar  of  Roses,  310. 

Sugar  plate,  315. 

Suicides,  burial  of,  181,  182,  414,  415. 
Sultan  of  Morocco,  cannon-dial  of,  48, 
49- 

Sultana  Rose,  342. 

Sun  of  York,  321. 

Sun-circles,  81,  193. 

Sunlight  necessary  for  dial,  244. 
Sun-rays  show  time,  117. 

Sunshine  recorder,  142-143. 
Sun-symbols,  183-184,  192-195. 
Sun-wheels,  81,  193. 

Sussex,  England,  dials  in,  220-222,  226, 
276. 

Swastika,  on  dials,  81,  192-195. 
Swearing  hole,  280. 

Sweetbrier  Roses,  311,  364. 

Syrup  of  Roses,  311. 

Talbot,  sun-dial  at,  372. 

Talmud,  quoted,  8. 

Tart  of  hips,  315. 

Taylor,  John,  the  Water  Poet,  quoted, 
170,  171,  174. 

Tea  Roses,  361  et  seq.,  365. 

Telescope,  invention  of,  382. 

Tempest  influenced  by  Rosicrucian- 
ism,  389. 

Temple  Gardens,  322. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  279-280. 
Tennyson,  Lord  Alfred,  quoted,  5; 

mottoes  from,  204. 

Terminal  dials,  62,  71. 

Terra-cotta,  pedestals  of,  208. 

Thaxter,  Celia,  quoted,  243-244. 
Theobalds,  dial-motto  at,  32. 
Theosophy  in  America,  405. 

Thistle  on  coins,  326. 

Thoreau,  cited,  301. 

Thyme  around  dial,  237-238. 

Time  candles,  55. 

Time  divisions,  of  Angles,  73;  of  Ro¬ 
mans,  73. 


460 


Index 


Time  on  dial,  198,  216. 

Time-meter,  104. 

Time  sticks,  54,  55. 

Tincture  of  Roses,  31 1. 

Tomb,  dial  made  from,  212-214. 
Torquetum  of  Apian,  78. 

Tortoise,  on  dial,  186;  as  emblem, 
186,  187,  188. 

Tower  of  the  Winds,  58,  59,  85. 
Tradescantia.  See  Spiderwort. 
Trailing  arbutus,  gathering  of,  415. 
Trask,  Spencer,  dial  of,  221-223. 
Tresham,  Sir  Thomas,  dials  of,  66, 
67. 

Triomphe  de  Luxembourg  Roses, 
362. 

Tropics,  lines  of,  on  dials,  65. 

Troschel,  Hans,  dials  of,  150. 

Tucher,  Hans.  See  Ditcher,  Hans. 
Tudor  rose,  326,  327. 

Tulips,  202-205,  227,  240-241. 

Turk’s  Head  dial,  216. 

Undine,  375. 

United  States,  currency  of,  21  et  seq.; 

meridian  line  of,  41  et  seq. 

United  States  National  Museum,  port¬ 
able  dials  in,  131,  138,  144. 
Universal  dialling  cylinder,  130. 
Universal  ring-dials,  136,  137,  138. 

Van  Cortlandt  Manor,  dial  and  Roses 
at,  234. 

Van  Dyke,  Henry,  mottoes  by,  223, 
276. 

Vanes,  58,  59,  76,  183. 

Vaughan,  Richard,  quoted,  28. 

Velvet  Rose,  308,  350  et  seq. 
Verge-watches,  152. 

Vertical  dial  fitted  for  church-dial,  63. 
Vibert,  Roses  of,  334. 

Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  portable 
dials  at,  135 ;  Jeypore  models  at, 
86. 

Virgin's  Bower,  363. 

Vitruvius,  dials  of,  84-85. 

Volvelle,  189. 


Waite,  A.  E.,  on  Rosicrucians,  382. 

Wallingford,  Penn.,  dial  at,  241. 

Walpole,  Horace,  cited,  288. 

Wanton  Gospeller ,  415. 

War  of  the  Roses,  322  et  seq. 

Warwickshire,  dials  in,  81. 

Washington  Association  of  New  Jer¬ 
sey,  143. 

Washington  dial,  177-178. 

Washington,  D.C.,  laying  out  of,  24; 
meridian  line  in,  41 ;  Meridian  Hill, 
42  et  seq. ;  portable  dials  at,  134 ; 
sunshine  recorder  at,  142-143. 

Washington,  George,  pocket-dial  of, 
143- 

Washington  Monument  as  gnomon, 
41- 

Watches  in  China,  56-57. 

Water  as  part  of  dials,  117.  See  also 
Horologium  Achaz. 

Water  Poet.  See  Taylor,  John. 

Water-clock.  See  Clepsydra. 

Watts,  Dr.,  motto  from,  273. 

Watts,  George  F.,  dial  of,  19  et  seq. 

Waxflowers,  309. 

Way  wiser,  47  et  seq.,  398.  See  also 
Odometer. 

Weather-vanes.  See  Vanes. 

West  Laurel  Cemetery,  cross-dial  at, 
280-281. 

Westminster  Abbey,  Coronation  Chair 
in.  379-380- 

Westmoreland,  dials  at,  266. 

Wharton  House,  dial  at,  217. 

Whiskey  from  acorns,  410. 

White  flowers  in  garden,  240. 

White,  Gilbert,  dial  of,  223-224,  232. 

Whitehall,  dials  at,  115-119,  219-220. 

Whitney,  Geoffrey,  quoted,  164,  165, 
170,  185. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  motto  by,  295; 
quoted,  402. 

Whittle,  73  et  seq. 

Whittle-gate,  73  et  seq. 

Wild  Roses,  hips  of,  313;  shoots,  313- 
314- 

Williams  College,  dial  at,  294. 


Index 


461 


Williams,  Martha  McCulloch,  quoted, 
340,  341,  362. 

Williams,  Roger,  letters  of,  412. 

Wilmslow,  lens-dial  at,  45,  49. 

Wilson,  Hugh,  dialling  studied  by,  13; 
dials  of,  93. 

Wimborne  Minster,  dials  in,  369,  370. 

Wind-dials.  See  Anemoscopes. 

Window-dials,  44,  46,  141,  291  et  seq. 

Window-sills,  dials  on,  74,  141. 

Windsor,  dials  at,  216. 

Wine  Rosat,  304. 

Winter  coronets,  300. 

Winthrop,  John,  love-letters  of,  412. 

Wismar,  bronze  trumpet  of,  194. 

Wissahickon,  settlement  on,  402. 

Witt,  Christopher,  406  et  seq. 

Wives  for  colonists,  400. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  letter  to,  404;  dial 
of,  104-105,  106,  107 ;  arms  of,  105. 

Woman  in  the  Wilderness,  398. 

Wood,  utensils  of,  used  by  Rosicru- 
cians  and  Ephrata  brothers,  410. 

Woodstock,  market  cross  with  dials, 
374- 

Worcester,  Mass.,  memorial  dial  at, 
64;  Roses  at,  347. 


Worcestershire,  dials  in,  74. 

Wordsworth,  William,  quoted,  11,  185 ; 
cited,  26. 

Wreath  Roses,  339,  340. 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  dials  of,  46  et 
seq.,  1 14 ;  work  of,  46-47  ;  transla¬ 
tion  by,  112;  a  Free  Mason,  381. 

Wright,  M.  O.,  dial  of,  236 ;  home,  285- 
286. 

Wright,  Thomas,  dial  of,  151-152. 

Wroxton  Abbey,  dial  at,  198,  218,  414. 

Yale  University,  dial  at,  292. 

Yellow  Wreath  Roses,  338-339. 

Young,  Arthur,  cited,  52. 

York  and  Lancaster  Rose,  331-332,  359. 

York,  arms  of,  on  dial,  105 ;  sun  of, 
321. 

York  Minster,  motto  upon,  378. 

Yorkshire,  England,  dials  in,  37,  88. 

Yuccas  around  dial,  238-240. 

Zimmerman,  Magister,  399. 

Zinzendorf,  Count,  406. 

Zodiacal  signs  of,  on  dial,  187, 188, 189 ; 
in  France,  190;  in  India,  190;  of 
Aztecs,  190-191. 


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Oe  ventrous  booke,  thy  fclfe  expofe 
!  T o  learned  men,  and  none  but  tnofei 
|  For  this  carping  age  of  ours 
£  Snuffcsatall  but  choyceft  flowers, 
Cul’d  from  out  the  curious  knots 
Of  quaint  writers  garden  plots; 

Thcfe  they  fmell  at,  thcfe  they  favor, 

Y  et  nbtfree  from  feare,  nor  favour: 

But  ifehouwertfmerdaright 
By  a  nofe  not  ftuft  with  fpight. 

Thou  to  all  that  learning  love 
Might’ll  a  fragrant  nolegay  prove. 

So  content  thee,  till  due  time, 

Blaze  thy  worth  throughout  this  Clime. 


ortridgo  bookstort 

Jam m:  I.  Hubler,  Prop. 


*73V  Hollywood  Bh'd 

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